Light a Penny Candle

This was the first Maeve Binchy book I read and I loved it! I have read every book of her's (except the latest and will do so) and while there are some fluctuations in interesting stories and characters over the course of her many books over the years I believe this book is truly one of her best. We get drawn in by the well-rounded characters and interesting stories Ms. Binchy devises in this book and I plan to read it again. That is about the highest praise I can give a book-the desire to read it again a few years later when someone says, "Hey, have you read such-and-such" and I think to myself, "I've got to read that again, it was SO good".

I thought for certain I would go blind reading this book - every night I would read until my eyes just couldn't process any more of the print. Although it covers many, many years of the two women's lives it never once got boring. I kept turning the page wondering who would live or die, who would sleep with whom, who would marry whom, etc. Very compelling!

I have read one other book of Maeve Binchy's (Tara Road) which led me to read another. This one was just as wonderful as the first and now I'm on to the next. The characters and story telling make you feel you are a part of their world which is what makes her books, so far, hard to put down!

While I am not a seasoned reader of Binchy's books, there are a few things I just have to say. I first read this book when I was 13, it's been 10 years, and I can still completely immerse myself in it. I grew up in non-western environment and I can honestly say I could relate completely to the small Irish town mentality portrayed in this book as well as the responses of the main character to her cloistering social set up- the initial desire to run away from it all, the eventual compromise that threatens to destroy her, and the guilt that comes after she finally asserts herself as an individual. The characters were so real, and Binchy's style was so captivating that I literally had to stay up for 2 nights straight so I finish reading it. In fact my only complaint regarding this book is there doesn't seem to be any sequel. This is tragic. This should be remedied immediately. Aside from being a fascinating account of two very different girls from two very different family set ups in wartime Ireland and postwar England, this book can be said to be the definitive statement of what friendship is supposed to be all abou

This novel was recommended to me by my grandmother and a few of my friends. I had no doubt that it would be good, because I have enjoyed many other books by Maeve Binchy. I never expected it to effect me as deeply as it did. It is so absolutely complete, with war, peace, love, hatred, marriage, divorce, murder, insanity, friendship, respect, birth, disease, and death. You become so utterly attached to the wonderful characters, that each moment of joy for them is a moment of joy for you, and likewise, each moment of pain felt by them is painfully felt by you. I was so proud of the way the two main characters, Aisling and Elizabeth, took control of their lives and defeated all odds. I believe they should be models for all women! The most wonderful thing was their friendship - they stood by each other through thick and thin! I have never read a book that moved me as deeply as this one, but I do find it to be very similar to "Gone With the Wind." Both "Light a Penny Candle" and "Gone With the Wind" were led by bold women who made it through times of trouble (in both cases war and many other challenges) and nothing ever brought them down. I never wanted it to end!