Books: Tara Road

Tara Road, by Maeve Binchy

Performed by Terry Donnelly (audiobook)


I've always enjoyed Maeve Binchy's books and recommend her to anyone interested in reading about characters who live in Ireland.

Her story lines are well-done and plausible and her characterizations are very good.

This was an Oprah's Book Club pick in 2000 (which I didn't know until I just looked on Amazon.com). The first book of hers I ever read was Light a Penny Candle in 1984 and I've enjoyed her work ever since. (That book apparently has been reissued in paperback; I'll have to see if I can find a copy as I recall it being a very good book.)

Ria is a working-class girl who marries well and makes good. She and her husband buy an old home on Tara Road and fix it up. The road becomes the place to live. But her husband philanders and their marriage crumbles. An unexpected phone call leads Ria to swap her home with Marilyn Vine, who lives in New England. During the time away the many small events erupt. The climax is a little anticlamtic but the rest of the book is so good it's a forgiveable issue.

4 stars.