Customer Reviews

Quentins

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

If you're a fan of Maeve Binchy, you've already visited Quentins. This restaurant, run by the cool efficient Brenda Brennan and her husband Patrick, is a place that characters in other Binchy novels always seem to be visiting at crucial points in their lives. It's the sort of place where you'd think "If these walls could talk..."

Ella Brady, the main character of this novel, thinks the same thing. After an affair with a married man goes bad, she throws herself into producing a documentary about Quentins to get her mind off her heartbreak. Along with Ella, we learn about Brenda and Patrick, hear the stories of many Quentins patrons over the years, and even meet Quentin himself. As you'd expect from Binchy, the stories are funny, sad, and heartwarming.

As a bonus to fans of Maeve Binchy, you also get to revisit some of your favorite characters from other novels. Ever wonder what happens to Signora and Aidan from Evening Class? Tom, Cathy, Simon, and Maud from Scarlett Feather? Ria from Tara Road? Pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.

We can all stop mourning Maeve Binchy's retirement. She's back and as good as ever with heartwarming stories about ordinary people whose lives are changed while dining at Quentins. The popular Dublin restaurant from her previous novels is at the heart of this story. Its owner, managers, employees, and customers all have a story to tell: Martin, the father with a short fuse, who dines with his son Jody; Maggie, the good student whose parents give her a serious celebration at the restaurant; Drew the visitor whose change of heart changes his life; Mon the waitress who unwittingly unmasks the banker's book in the plain brown wrapper; Yvonne whose mother's little white lie creates a new life for Frank and his three daughters; Laura who finds a way to spend Mother's Day without her children. And best of all, there is Quentin himself, whose encounter with a shabby and eccentric old man sets the whole story in motion.

The fabulous bonus of this book is we find out what happened to some favorite characters from previous books. Ria Lynch's life was left on hold when TARA ROAD ended, but now we know what happened. Ditto for Tom and Cathy and Simon and Maud from SCARLET FEATHER and the Signora and Aidan from EVENING CLASS.

The story of the restaurant and its people are all brought into focus by Ella Brady who is in charge of developing a documentary about modern day Dublin. Her love affair with an unscrupulous married man has left her life in shambles and nearly destroyed her family and friends. But Ella has a special place in her heart for Quentins and its managers--- the unflappable Brenda Brennan, her chef/husband Patrick, and his uniquely appealing brother Blouse. When she chooses to tell Dublin's story through the people who walk through the door of Quentins she gets more than she bargained for.

So pour yourself a cup of tea and book the best seat in the house for a relaxing time at Quentins.

Having thought that Maeve Binchy had retired from her craft in 2001, I was surprised and thrilled when "Quentins" appeared, and I snapped it up.

"Quentins" is by no means Binchy's best book. It's a bit tired, a bit confusing, and its tone is ever so slightly cynical. I hope this is not a reflection of Binchy's state of mind, but merely the subject matter of the plot. The heroine, Ella, a strangely one-dimensional character when compared with Binchy's usual, sails through an exemplary early life only to fall madly, obsessively in love with the wrong man.

Ella's story is told with Quentins, a fictional upscale Dublin restaurant, as the backdrop. Through this popular eatery, we meet lots of interesting people, whose stories we learn--and we have the return, however briefly, of some previous Binchy characters as well. But even they do not have the life they had in the original books--they seem somehow two-dimensional. I don't know whether that was the fault of this reader, who had a lot of trouble keeping all the names straight, or of Binchy herself, who is practically sacred in my eyes!

I would never recommend reading this book as a first taste of Maeve Binchy. But for those of us who have followed her wonderful literary career through the years, and who have read her entire collection, it's a joy just to be reading another offering when we thought that Binchy had retired from writing. If this were any other author, I would rate the book a 3. But I just can't do that; the book captured and kept my interest, and although its odd tone made me uneasy, I'm not at all sorry I read it. Binchy fans: Go for it, but don't expect "Circle of Friends" or its ilk. Binchy newcomers: pick another book, such as the aforementioned, before tackling this one.

I've observed the following about Maeve Binchy's books - I tend to like the sprawling, character-driven sagas but find her short story collections dissatisfying. Although "Quentins" has a unified theme related to a documentary film, much of the story involves small sketches of characters which last five to six pages, and are ultimately confusing and somewhat distracting from the central theme. I give this book three stars because of the denouement it provides to some of Ms. Binchy's beloved characters from other works.

Like Scarlet Feathers, this book really let me down. As an avid Binchy reader I expected more. Scarlet Feathers, as her last book before retirement, had extremely unlikable characters and was not up to her previous books. Quentins is even worse as it is so boring and unbelievable. Where is the warmth and intelligence that marked Binchy's previous books? Ella is unlikable, naive and stupid. If she was so beloved as a child, why did she grow up to be so utterly lacking in self-esteem that she spends two years with a married man and still can't make up her mind about him after he leaves her and bankrupts her father? This is not the Maeve Binchy I love. For those of you who are first time readers of her books, please read Circle of Friends, a hundred times better than the movie, Copper Beech, Tara Road, Glass Lake to name a few. Her books of short stories are great too. Don't judge Maeve Binchy's storytelling ability by this book. I guess everyone is entitled to a couple of clunkers. If she came out of retirement to write this book, I'm afraid it was a mistake.

I love Maeve Binchy books, but there are so many little inconsistencies in this one, it drove me nuts. Quentins was supposed to have been open and run for years. Nora met Aidan when she was her in 50s, the same age as Brenda, yet in Quentin's Brenda's nephew is referred to as a baby near the end of the book and he would have been in his 20s or 30s by then. Quentin was listed as being in his 40s when he should have been in his 50s. The town in Italy where Nora lived was misspelled. Mon is called Mon Harris in part of the book and her future husband is Mr. Hays, then he becomes Mr. Harris. Deirdre, who doesn't really know Brenda somehow knows she can read lips. Ella is supposedly only in New York for less than two weeks. At this time Cathy and Tom are not married and the baby is two months away, but later, when only a few days have passed it says they are married and the baby is due any minute. Ella also has worked at Colm's restaurant, but then has to go and hang out with him to see what a day in the restaurant is like? Ella and Derry never go to Quentins to work, but Quentin supposedly watches them coming in and working on the movie. Ella's father makes the comment that he knows Mike Martin, but later when he comes to their house, he doesn't know him? I can't believe this wasn't edited any better than this. I was highly disappointed with all the little errors, but, I love the characters and was happy to see them all again.

If this is how Maeve Binchy's books are, I'm a new fan! I picked this book up because of the cover. I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover. But I did and I am so glad that I did. Quentins is a wonderful read...Binchy immediately draws you into the story of Ella...and then weaves you into the stories of the villagers. I loved it. I felt like I was part of the restaurant goers. Each story is poignant and I loved how it all ties together into Quentins. Definitely a five star book and a great read!

Mauve Binchy is not at her best in this novel. It is interesting in the beginning, but becomes confusing as she introduces new characters in the middle to the end of the book. Ella Brady is the main character. She is a struggling school teacher who gets tangled into an affair with a married man. He is not just an ordinary married man, but one who is rich and powerful. She soon realizes that despite his good nature and intelligence, he is involved in a scam to cheat all of his clients out of millions of dollars. As the scam unfolds, Ella realizes what she needs to do...

Well, you either love her stuff or you don't. If you're a fan, you'll like Quentins, especially as it gathers in some favorite characters from her previous novels, so there's a sense of continuity, on an on-going story without end.
The set-up: Ella Brady has been dumped by her unethical lover, and she pulls herself up by the proverbial bootstraps and gets involved with a documentary about Quentins, a Dublin restaurant whose increasing success over the past 30 years seems to parallel the changes in Dublin itself.
The technique: Binchy uses a technique that has become increasingly popular in recent years. She tells her tale as a series of short stories, each with a different character as the main `player.'
It all works pretty well as a good tale, but it ain't great literature. On the other hand, no one ever said it was.

I just finished reading Scarlet Feather and just had to read Quentins! I knew that there would be mention of characters from Scarlet Feather, so I was anxious to continue these stories.

There are a lot of characters in the novel and a lot of story that takes place, so it would be rather confusing to try and explain the plot. However, it is such a wonderful character novel and you can't help but care about the people in the book. Maeve Binchy has such a wonderful way of telling her stories, and I recommend this book.

I think I have a new favorite author!