Helpful Score: 5
Maeve Binchy writes wonderful stories about real people...the kind you want to meet or already know. They have their quirks, problems, hopes and dreams. The people who ride the lilac bus are all searching for something, some find what they're looking for, some don't have a clue. The bonus section, Dublin 4 tells the stories of four people and how they handle the most difficult times of their lives.
Helpful Score: 4
Usually I love Maeve Binchy, but I felt as if this book was unfinished. She had several wonderful stories going on here, but she just quit. I wonder what went on! Also included in this copy are "Dublin 4" tales. I felt they were also unfinished.
Helpful Score: 3
I was disappointed in this book - the first one to be that way for me. The stories left me hanging...meaning I needed more closure on each one. I love her writing style but this just left me wanting to know more about things ended up for the characters. Please NOTE: This book has a book and 4 short stories in it. I had no idea of that.
Helpful Score: 1
"Maeve Binchy novels are about ordinary people who have the sort of problems that most people have. Her characters are often working class people who have money worries, problematic personal relationships, and frequently work in dead-end jobs.
In "The Lilac Bus," 7 people who live and work in Dublin, take the lilac bus owned and driven by Tom Fitzgerald, back home to the village of Rathdoon. They arrive late every Friday night and return to Dublin--to their jobs--on Sunday nights. To the other villagers, it's somewhat of a puzzle why anyone who could spend a weekend in Dublin, would choose to come home every single weekend. "The Lilac Bus" is a series of short stories which solve the puzzle of the bus passengers' individual desire or obligation to return to Rathdoon. Each passenger has a unique story, and yet somehow the stories are connecting too.
Following the 8 stories about the bus passengers, Bicnhy gives the reader four additional short stories about Dubliners..." amazon
In "The Lilac Bus," 7 people who live and work in Dublin, take the lilac bus owned and driven by Tom Fitzgerald, back home to the village of Rathdoon. They arrive late every Friday night and return to Dublin--to their jobs--on Sunday nights. To the other villagers, it's somewhat of a puzzle why anyone who could spend a weekend in Dublin, would choose to come home every single weekend. "The Lilac Bus" is a series of short stories which solve the puzzle of the bus passengers' individual desire or obligation to return to Rathdoon. Each passenger has a unique story, and yet somehow the stories are connecting too.
Following the 8 stories about the bus passengers, Bicnhy gives the reader four additional short stories about Dubliners..." amazon
Helpful Score: 1
Read this awhile ago...always enjoy Maeve Binchy's books!