Heart and Soul

I loved this book. Maeve Binchey does a marvelous job telling a story and keeping the reader engaged. Her characters are rich and colorful. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

I truly enjoyed this book. It has a lot of characters and quite a few from a previous book or two. While it is fiction - it totally incorporates modern day social problems such as racism, class, health and a lot of family issues. I always feel like I'm having a cup of tea with a friend whenever I'm reading Ms. Binchy. She is down to earth and we're so lucky to have her work at hand.

Maeve Binchy is basically a writer of short stories. She can introduce a character, sketch out what he/she is like, and then fill in the lines quicker than any other author I can think of. She can create characters whom readers care about and concoct any number of interesting situations for them. In this book the main character is Dr. Clara Casey, a woman with two troublesome daughters and a dissolving marriage, who has taken over the running of a heart clinic in Ireland. Each chapter is essentially a short story which tells a tale of each of the clinic's employees and their families. Binchy uses gentle humor and her deep knowledge of human nature and knits together these separate tales into a delightful whole. In my opinion, this is the best book that Binchy has written in quite awhile.

One of my favorite joys is to sit back with my coffee and read books...Maeve Binchy, is my favorite author and her books make my reading time so fulfilling. In her latest book, Heart and Soul, she returns to the style that made her one of the most comforting authors. Like all her books, Heart and Soul has quite a cast of characters...but the main character is the cardiac specialist at a Dublin clinic named Clara Casey. Clara runs the clinic with her two adult daughters and her ex-husband. Declan, the doctor at the clinic, is a shy young man that lives with his parents. Fiona and Barbara, are the two nurses at the clinic...we also have a young lass named Ania...patients at the clinic and Father Brian Flynn. All these characters have their own back story that Maeve Binchy weaves together like a fine silken rug. Sitting here, after just reading this novel, I'm searching for words to best describe the book...I'm not sure if I can truly articulate the grandness of the writing...the passion and detail in each character...the meticulous way they were developed. Every aspect of the book causes the reader to lose themselves and become a character in the novel...there isn't anything bad I can say about it. The characters are strong, independent, and able to carry the story alone...but become a brilliant force when combined. Older characters from previous novels even find their way into Heart and Soul. I guess what I'm trying to say is...this is a great novel and a return to form by an ingenious author........For a great companion book I would highly recommend Geo Tin's classic novel: Sirens :Sirens (Mass Market)

I'm a Binchy fan and this is storytelling at its best. Reading all her books has given me insight into my Irish parents background and all the quaint excpressions that the Irish use,,,like an iijit. I have never been to Dublin, but a visit this Spring seems in order after reading Binchy's latest.