A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy *****

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy opens with the story of Chicky who leaves Stoneybridge on the west coast of Ireland to run away and live with Walter in New York City—against the advice of her friends and family. The affair is short, but she is too embarrassed to admit defeat. After twenty years of working hard in NYC, she returns to buy Stone House and turns it into a hotel. The title is the opening week at the hotel, and the remainder book is nine more vignettes that all end with the opening week. Positive and uplifting.

The people who end up at Stone House have all had challenges and eventually overcome them with positive attitudes and hard work.

Rigger was in reform school and reoffended, but after hiding out in Stoneybridge, he works hard and ends up with a good job, wife, and child.

Winnie wants to settle down with Teddy, but his mother Lillian doesn’t want to release him. After getting lost in Stoneybridge, they make peace.

Many of the women are single and not happy with that, but they all make peace with their lives or discover boyfriends in surprising situations.

Several of the male characters are irresponsible, disloyal, and dishonest.

The ten vignettes (from the publisher):  

            Chicky Starr

            Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house)

            Orla, Chicky’s niece (a whiz at business)

            Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together

            John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito

            Nicola and Henry, shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine

            Anders hates his father’s business but has a real talent for music (nyckelharpa)

            Walls, disappointed to have won this second-prize Stone House holiday

            Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early

            Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her psychic visions

Sharing a week with this unlikely cast of characters is pure joy, full of Maeve’s trademark warmth and humor. Once again, she embraces us with her grand storytelling.

Amazon has at least four books with this title.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.