Helpful Score: 5
A book of loosely connected stories...all of the people have some connection to a small town in Ireland called Rossmoor and a well in the woods that is dedicated to Saint Ann, where people go to pray for intercessions. A fun, escapist read, although I would not count it among her best.
Helpful Score: 3
I love Maeve Binchy and would read anything she writes. This book was very tedious to read and not my favorite of her books.
Helpful Score: 3
This is an interesting book because it really is a series of short stories about people that are connected to the town of Rossmore and St. Ann's Well. If you read this with this in mind you can really enjoy it. Some of the people are inter-connected and you see their side of their life.
Helpful Score: 2
I didn't care for this one as much as her others. More short stories than a novel. Too many ends left undone.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed the stories of the individual characters throughout the book, just had trouble keeping them straight until the author reveals in the very last chapter how everyone was interconnected. Good read.
Helpful Score: 2
I listened to the audio CD version of Whitehorn Woods. Great narration of a very good story. I really enjoyed the story and the narrator made the story come alive. I wasn't disappointed in this audiobook.
Helpful Score: 1
Another great story of the people of Ireland. For those of you who have known Binchy's work before, this is a repeat in her strong character development and scene development. Her descriptions are rich, and the reader's voice lent authenticity to the story. GOOD READ!
Helpful Score: 1
this was AWFUL!! i adore Maeve's stuff but this just so wasn't up to par. If it said up front SHORT STORIES, I'd have gone into it maybe in a better frame of mind. But i kept expecting them all to come together but it just never developed. The characters were ok, but FAAAAR too many of them and most of them rather exasperating...
Helpful Score: 1
I have loved every Maeve Binchy book so far. She never disappoints. With this book, she strings us along and then brings us along with all her characters to a satisfying conclusion.
Helpful Score: 1
any fan of maeve binchy will enjoy this latest book. another book of interesting characters who with ms binchy's storytelling are involved in each others life knowingly or unknowingly. a great book to read anytime. anyone who wants to read a book set in ireland with warm,caring and interesting characters will enjoy this book as well as any of ms. binchy's other novels. i always enjoy her writing and am never disappointed and you will either.
Helpful Score: 1
Another excellent book from Maeve Binchy. I loved the way each chapter was a different character's story yet each intermingled throughout the novel. Very well written and one of my favorites from her. I hated to see it end!
This was only the author's second book that I have read and what can compare with Friends!
Another fine Maeve Binchy book!
Short stories about life and love...not very interesting but well written.
Maeve Binchy continues to write an interesting, engaging story. Though not her best (I still think Circle of Friends was her best effort)it was a nice relaxed read.
Everything is changing in Rossmore. No longer a sleepy Irish town; nowadays it's a prosperous place, so busy that a new bypass has been proposed.
Another excellent book by Maeve Binchy! Rich characters; plot twists - couldn't put it down!
I really enjoyed this book. Fans of Maeve Binchy won't be disappointed.
This is the best Maeve Binchy book I've read, and I've enjoyed all the rest. Her characters are so real, whether you love them or hate them. In Whitethorn Woods, each chapter tells about people who live in, come from, or have some connection to a small Irish town. The town is in turmoil because a highway bypass has been proposed which will cut through beautiful Whitethorn Woods and will destroy an iconic spot within the woods, St. Ann's Well. St Ann supposedly answers the prayers of women looking for love or wanting to have a baby or who simply need answers to the problems in their lives. There are mixed feelings among the populace about the holiness of this site. Some characters are visited in only one chapter. Others recur in subsequent chapters. Each chapter could stand alone as a short story, but many of the stories are interwoven to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. This is Binchy at her best. I highly recommend this book.
Maeve Binchy brilliantly brings her Irish characters to life!
I found this book Binchy-enjoyable. She is a reliable and steady writer and when you're in the mood for her style, she's hard to beat.
Lovely story about a small town in Ireland with a special wishing well. Great detail of the characters and how they all relate to the town and each other.
I love Maeve Binchy, but didn't think I would like this book once I started reading it. It is written in the form of short stories which is a style I don't typically care for. However, the more I read, the more engrossed I became. Each story was very interesting and the characters were so well developed. The best part was seeing how all of these lives crossed and entertwined. I actually ended up really enjoying this book.
I've only made it through about half the book before I put it down in disgust. It reminded me of the way she wrote the Lilac Bus, and that was not one of my favorites either. Beware...this book (or at least the first part) reads like a series of short stories.
Interconnecting stories of people in an Irish town whose lives are effected by the old wishing well, a shrine to St. Anne.
If you area Maeve Binchy fan this book will not disappoint you!
When a new highway threatens to bypass the town of Rossmore and cut through Whitethorn Woods, it will also destroy St. Ann's Well, where people have been coming for generations to share their dreams and offer their prayers. Some believe the well to be a place of true spiritual power; others think it's a mere magnet for superstitions. Maeve Binchy populates Whitethorn Woods with passionately opinioted men and women drawn into a timely confict between the traditions of the past and the promises of the future.
I'm a Binchy fan but this one is just "so-so." Each chapter is a different character's story.
A proposed highway through the quiet Irish town of Rossmore will mean the destruction of St. Ann's Well - a shrine supposed to deliver healing, husbands and other miracles - located in Whitethorn Woods. The shrine is located in Father Brian Flynn's parish, St Augustine's.
As a fracas erupts between the people who want the highway and believers who want the shrine preserved, Fr. Flynn finds himself in the middle of the issue not sure where he stands in an increasingly secular Ireland. He goes to the shrine to pray to God to show him what position is right. What follows are the stories of Neddy Nolan, a not so simple mentally challenged man, 60-something Vera who finds love on a trip meant for much younger people and James, whose wife of 26 years is dying.
Linked into these stories are stories of mental illness, alcoholism, incest, greed, the joys of being single and struggles of career women. The good and bad sides of people are shown. I really liked this book although it was a simple plot. It was sweet and endearing anyway. I give it an A+!
As a fracas erupts between the people who want the highway and believers who want the shrine preserved, Fr. Flynn finds himself in the middle of the issue not sure where he stands in an increasingly secular Ireland. He goes to the shrine to pray to God to show him what position is right. What follows are the stories of Neddy Nolan, a not so simple mentally challenged man, 60-something Vera who finds love on a trip meant for much younger people and James, whose wife of 26 years is dying.
Linked into these stories are stories of mental illness, alcoholism, incest, greed, the joys of being single and struggles of career women. The good and bad sides of people are shown. I really liked this book although it was a simple plot. It was sweet and endearing anyway. I give it an A+!
Enjoyable, but you don't see how the characters are connected until the end.
If anyone has ever dreamed of traveling to Ireland, you must read this book. Maeve Binchy's character's have you "there". It is a lovely read, so very Irish. The small town seems so real. If you cannot get enough about the Irish this book is definately for you!!!
Not my favorite book of hers. But I enjoy reading all of her books.
Maeve Binchy is up to her usual charming, enjoyable self. She tells multiple stories about quirky Irish characters that are all tied together nearly at the end. A great read!
I enjoyed this book. It is thought provoking. It talks about so many different characters but you have to keep reading to find out how they all tie together.
This was the May 2011 pick in my online book club, The Reading Cove. There were just WAY too many characters and too many different story lines to keep straight! It seemed pointless. They were each impressively well-developed, but there were just too many to keep up with. Way, way, way too many.
New highway threatens to bypass Rossmore and Whitethorn Woods where people share their hopes, dreams and prayers at St. Anneâs Well. The people need to decide between the traditions of the past and the promises of the future. I enjoy all Binchyâs books as I find her characters and stories fascinating. Binchy is a gifted storyteller and I enjoy visiting all the Irish villages in her novels. Recommended!
Enjoyable read.
