Silver Wedding

I purchased this book for a family member who is a fan of Maeve Binchy books. She enjoyed the book very much.

I've just recently started reading Maeve Binchy. Silver Wedding strikes me as one of her more unique stories, one that goes out on a bit of a ledge. The book is comprised of something like 8 different parts; each with it's own narrator & we get a glimpse into that person's life. We start out with the eldest daughter of the anniversary couple, Anna, and then to her two other siblings- Brenden & Helen. We also read about her parents and their friends. In the final part we see them all reunited for the anniversary party. The book was not exactly what I was expecting- it wasn't really a very "happy" book. In fact, the stories inside it were quite sad & depressing. I did enjoy though what almost seemed like a book full of mini-stories all coming together at the end. So far it's not my favorite of her's, but I enjoyed it just the same.

Maeve Binchy, in her usual style, introduces us to her characters one-by-one. As we meet each character, their inner thoughts explain their relationships to each other, and to the activities that are happening in each individual's life. This bittersweet tale is very realistic in explaining how and why people act in the strange ways that we all do. As we meet each person, the puzzle comes together and by the end the reader has a complete picture of the event, the thoughts, the preparation, and the cast of the Silver Wedding Party. This beautiful book may encourage us all to realize and respect the reasons for other people's life-choices. We only know part of the story.

This was only my 3rd book by Maeve Binchy, and compared to Evening Class and Echoes, Silver Wedding wasn't near as entertaining. I feel that if Binchy made the novel a bit longer to allow for better character development, Silver Wedding would have been quite a page-turner. However, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and I will continue to read anything Maeve Binchy has in print.

The story discripes all kind of people. Some people are kind and some people are bad.