Quentins [ハードカバー]

Ella Brady, the main character of this novel, thinks the same thing. After an affair with a married man goes bad, she throws herself into producing a documentary about Quentins to get her mind off her heartbreak. Along with Ella, we learn about Brenda and Patrick, hear the stories of many Quentins patrons over the years, and even meet Quentin himself. As you'd expect from Binchy, the stories are funny, sad, and heartwarming.

As a bonus to fans of Maeve Binchy, you also get to revisit some of your favorite characters from other novels. Ever wonder what happens to Signora and Aidan from Evening Class? Tom, Cathy, Simon, and Maud from Scarlett Feather? Ria from Tara Road? Pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.

The fabulous bonus of this book is we find out what happened to some favorite characters from previous books. Ria Lynch's life was left on hold when TARA ROAD ended, but now we know what happened. Ditto for Tom and Cathy and Simon and Maud from SCARLET FEATHER and the Signora and Aidan from EVENING CLASS.

The story of the restaurant and its people are all brought into focus by Ella Brady who is in charge of developing a documentary about modern day Dublin. Her love affair with an unscrupulous married man has left her life in shambles and nearly destroyed her family and friends. But Ella has a special place in her heart for Quentins and its managers--- the unflappable Brenda Brennan, her chef/husband Patrick, and his uniquely appealing brother Blouse. When she chooses to tell Dublin's story through the people who walk through the door of Quentins she gets more than she bargained for.

So pour yourself a cup of tea and book the best seat in the house for a relaxing time at Quentins.

"Quentins" is by no means Binchy's best book. It's a bit tired, a bit confusing, and its tone is ever so slightly cynical. I hope this is not a reflection of Binchy's state of mind, but merely the subject matter of the plot. The heroine, Ella, a strangely one-dimensional character when compared with Binchy's usual, sails through an exemplary early life only to fall madly, obsessively in love with the wrong man.

Ella's story is told with Quentins, a fictional upscale Dublin restaurant, as the backdrop. Through this popular eatery, we meet lots of interesting people, whose stories we learn--and we have the return, however briefly, of some previous Binchy characters as well. But even they do not have the life they had in the original books--they seem somehow two-dimensional. I don't know whether that was the fault of this reader, who had a lot of trouble keeping all the names straight, or of Binchy herself, who is practically sacred in my eyes!

I would never recommend reading this book as a first taste of Maeve Binchy. But for those of us who have followed her wonderful literary career through the years, and who have read her entire collection, it's a joy just to be reading another offering when we thought that Binchy had retired from writing. If this were any other author, I would rate the book a 3. But I just can't do that; the book captured and kept my interest, and although its odd tone made me uneasy, I'm not at all sorry I read it. Binchy fans: Go for it, but don't expect "Circle of Friends" or its ilk. Binchy newcomers: pick another book, such as the aforementioned, before tackling this one.