Customer Reviews

Silver Wedding

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Maeve Binchy is a great storyteller. All of her books are filled with character description and are definately page turners. The Silver Wedding took me by suprise the way each character had different views on the same events which is usually true in real life. This is the seventh book of Binchy's that I have read and everytime I finish one, I can't wait to start the next. The Silver Wedding, although not my favorite of hers, lived up to my expectations of Bincy's marvelous ability to telling a story. Definately recommende d as a summer read. (or anytime!)

Twenty-five years of marriage is an amazing feat in today's society and this book celebrates a couple's marriage. There are secrets involved in everyone's lives and this book is a reflection upon that.

There is Anna, the daughter in charge of planning the anniversary celebration, who is in love with an actor still married to his wife and mother of his sons. There is Brendan who fled England back to the Irish farmland that his father had escaped from. There is Helen, the youngest child, bent on becoming a nun in an order that doesn't even want her. There is Desmond, their father, miserable in a management level of a grocery store chain and their mother, Deirdre, who has always tried to maintain the look of happiness and perfection. And they all come to self-realizations in this novel. There is Deirdre's maid of honor, Maureen, who became a successful business woman, and there is Frank, the best man, who is the head of the grocery store chain. And other characters with a delightful insights written by Maeve.

This book is nice ~~ it's comfort reading, if you will. It is not, by far, her best book. She has a tendency to string her readers along for more juicy tidbits and end it promptly without revealing any more stories. It's frustrating because it leaves all the questions unanswered. So it's not as good as "Circle of Friends" or "Light a Penny Candle" or her others. But still, it is a comforting read.

It is a nice little story of people and friends of a family in England. Though it's not my favorite book, it is still an enjoyable reading.

12-2-03

Maeve Binchy, in her usual style, introduces us to her characters one-by-one. As we meet each character, their inner thoughts explain their relationships to each other, and to the activities that are happening in each individual's life. This bittersweet tale is very realistic in explaining how and why people act in the strange ways that we all do. As we meet each person, the puzzle comes together and by the end the reader has a complete picture of the event, the thoughts, the preparation, and the cast of the Silver Wedding Party. This beautiful book may encourage us all to realize and respect the reasons for other people's life-choices. We only know part of the story.

This was only my 3rd book by Maeve Binchy, and compared to Evening Class and Echoes, Silver Wedding wasn't near as entertaining. I feel that if Binchy made the novel a bit longer to allow for better character development, Silver Wedding would have been quite a page-turner. However, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and I will continue to read anything Maeve Binchy has in print.

I've just recently started reading Maeve Binchy. Silver Wedding strikes me as one of her more unique stories, one that goes out on a bit of a ledge.

The book is comprised of something like 8 different parts; each with it's own narrator & we get a glimpse into that person's life. We start out with the eldest daughter of the anniversary couple, Anna, and then to her two other siblings- Brenden & Helen. We also read about her parents and their friends. In the final part we see them all reunited for the anniversary party.

The book was not exactly what I was expecting- it wasn't really a very "happy" book. In fact, the stories inside it were quite sad & depressing. I did enjoy though what almost seemed like a book full of mini-stories all coming together at the end. So far it's not my favorite of her's, but I enjoyed it just the same.

This book takes a typical family, examines its seperate members, and then provides a look at the whole with the knowledge of the secrets each member has.

I enjoy Binchy's style of writing interconnected stories that weave together. She pulled it off first in Lilac Bus and now Silver Wedding.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that this was not her best novel. I would have rathered her write about only half the characters and go into more depth about those. I would get so into a story and then it would end, and the person wouldn't be heard of again until the anniversary celebration. I did like the part about the various invites to the party which had been answered, (Not a direct quote) - "They would send flowers and a card,but would not attend, and that is the way it should be" It was a quick read, though - great for a rainy weekend or a trip to the beach. Also try TARA ROAD - a good novel as well.

Even though I did enjoy this book, I was disappointed in the way some of the characters stories were left hanging, such as Father Hurley's nephew. What happened to him? The character of Helen REALLY got on my nerves. But then, she was probably supposed to. Overall, though, it was a good read.

I started this book as I felt in need for something mild and soothing for the heart.

Desmond¡¦s and Deirdre¡¦s silver wedding anniversary was central to the whole story. Through this upcoming event, several characters¡¦ stories unfolded. Anna, the eldest daughter, blindly in love with an out-of-work author; Helen, the youngest, struggling to become a nun; Brendan, the only son who went against the norms and his parents¡¦ wishes to work in a farm in Ireland. Also weaved into the story was Frank, the best man, a successful business man, though slightly less successful in the affairs of the heart, Father Hurley, the priest who married the couple twenty-five years ago, and feisty Maureen, Deirdre¡¦s best friend.

These were ordinary characters, but what would make the reader go on is that each of the character had its own unique tale to tell, from managing family relationships, to hidden and secret affairs of the heart.

I felt a slight disappointment, however, at the end of the book as it left me with a sense of non-fulfillment. We were given insights to the problems but were not shown solutions. For instance, Deirdre¡¦s uneasy relationship with her children did not appear to be improved and Maureen¡¦s relationship with Walter did not develop further. Maybe this is the author¡¦s reflection of the real world, that not every question has an answer to it.

This was only my 3rd book by Maeve Binchy, and compared to Evening Class and Echoes, Silver Wedding wasn't near as entertaining. I feel that if Binchy made the novel a bit longer to allow for better character development, Silver Wedding would have been quite a page-turner. However, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and I will continue to read anything Maeve Binchy has in print.