Maeve Binchy died shortly after finishing A Week In Winter, a series of character vignettes connected by a holiday week in a refurbished house on the west coast of Ireland. We follow the hotel’s owner, her employees, and the guests who come for her opening week.
Owner Chicky Starr starts the novel. She is the girl who fell in love foolishly and followed her guy to New York where he eventually dumped her. Chicky was determined to not crawl home – her family was horrified that she left to live with a man without marriage – and made a life for herself in New York. In fact Chicky made two lives, one the real situation, a pastry chef and boardinghouse worker, and the other her fantasy life full of love with her husband Walter (the guy who dumped her) and their fun on the town. Eventually she goes back home to Stoneybridge, buys the Stone House from Miss Sheedy and sets out to make it as a hotelier.
Chicky is determined, interested in people without wanting to pry or volunteer advice, hard working, careful with money. She is living a lie, having told everyone that “husband Walter” died in a car accident, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. It’s as though she managed to disconnect herself from the years in America and build something brand new, albeit on a shaky foundation.
Mrs. Binchly does a grand job letting us see the people behind the names. We read about their friends and backgrounds, the people they loved and those they disappointed. The guests range from an American movie star to an icy school mistress to a married couple that makes their days bright by winning contests.
The Walls won their week as second prize in contest where first prize was a week in Paris. They spent the time before the trip and the first day or so lamenting their lost Paris week. They didn’t feel like enjoying their week until they learned the first prize winners were having a miserable week, with none of the promised Parisian delights and an unpleasant stay in a 3rd rate room in the prize hotel. Then they decided they won a worthy prize, relaxed and enjoyed Stone House.
The author’s genius was in making the people come to life with a series of small, gentle stories that show them both for good and ill. Some of the characters have dubious moral backgrounds, but all are shown in a kind, warm-hearted light. In fact the only character shown with no redeeming qualities is the school mistress, who is so self-closed that we never get beyond her rigor.
Overall I enjoyed this. A A Week In Winter was easy to pick up late in the evening and read about a person or two, then put down until the next evening. There wasn’t a lot of plot or action among the characters as the action occurred mostly before or after the week’s holiday. Each character, except Miss Nell Howe, uses the week to come to peace with a situation or to make a life-turning decision. The book was peaceful and interesting.
4 Stars
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