Thursday, December 27, 2018

December 27

Evening Class (1996)
By Maeve Binchy

As in many of her other books (The Lilac Bus, The Copper Beech), Maeve Binchy brings together a group of unhappy and unfulfilled individuals and the reader sees them transformed.  In this case, the catalyst is an Italian class offered at the local night school in a run-down Irish neighborhood.  Nora O'Donoghue, now middle-aged, has returned from Sicily to her native Ireland and takes on the role of Signora to her students, who include a forlorn Latin teacher, a failing student, a bank clerk, a hotel porter, among others.  Set in Dublin in the 1950s through 1990s, the story is based on some strong coincidences, but with such a happy ending that it was a joy to read.

Ireland, happy ending - what more can I ask?


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