 First edition cover | |
| Author | Maeve Binchy |
|---|---|
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Century |
Publication date | 1985 |
Echoes is a 1985 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. As Binchy's second novel, it explores various themes of Irish small-town life, including social classes and expectations, the paucity of educational opportunities before the introduction of free secondary education in 1967, and women's roles. A four-part television miniseries was adapted from the novel in 1988.
Set in the fictional Irish seaside resort town of Castlebay, the novel follows the lives of several local families between the years 1950 and 1962. [1] The primary three families act as a counterbalance to one another: the wealthy Powers, whose father is the local doctor and mother is a city girl from Dublin; the struggling O'Briens, who eke out a living from the eleven-week long summer season in their grocery-confectionery shop; and the charming but secretive Doyles, whose father runs the local photography concession. [2] Their children's lives are guided by their social class and expectations: young David Power goes off to Dublin to earn his medical degree, following in his father's footsteps, while young Gerry Doyle stays in the town and inherits his father's business. Only Clare O'Brien seeks to advance beyond her station and go to college. With the help of a local schoolteacher who was herself a scholarship student, Clare earns scholarships to secondary school and university, and ends up at University College Dublin to pursue her degree. There she falls in love with David Power and they move in together, unbeknownst to their families; but when she becomes pregnant, they are forced to marry. [3] They return to Castlebay so David can begin assuming his father's practice, but Clare is desperately unhappy being relegated to a second-class position in the Power family and in the town. [3] Gerry, who has a secret passion for Clare, tries to entice her away from David but the book ends with his dramatic death and the strengthening of Clare's marriage.
Subplots revolve around Clare's teacher, whose brother Sean, a priest, has married and had children with a Japanese woman but is unable to obtain a laicization from Rome; Clare's brothers, who go to work in England and one of whom ends up in jail; and upper-class summer visitors from Dublin who become involved with the locals in intimate ways. [4]
Small-town mores and narrow-mindedness affect the lives of all the characters in Castlebay. [3] The paucity of educational opportunities in small towns before the introduction of free secondary education in 1967 is also a central theme. [1] Binchy explores the opportunities for women afforded by travel and migration, [1] as Clare and David find freedom in Dublin and Sean's Japanese wife enjoys raising her children in England.
Echoes was Binchy's second novel. [5] It has been cited as one of Binchy's most popular titles. [6] It was selected as a Literary Guild alternate. [7]
A four-part television miniseries was adapted from the novel in 1988. The series was produced for Channel 4 by Working Title Films in association with RTÉ. [8] [9]
Anne Maeve Binchy Snell was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers.
Dalkey is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became an active port during the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the mid-14th century. In modern times, Dalkey has become a seaside suburb that attracts some tourist visitors.
Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
The Glass Lake is a 1994 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. The action takes place in a rural Irish village as well as in London in the 1950s. It is notable as the last of Binchy's novels to be set in the 1950s. Binchy explores the roles of women in Irish society and inconstant lovers, and uses an operatic plot to hold the reader's attention.
Firhouse is an outer suburb of Dublin, in the county of South Dublin, in the south of the traditional County Dublin in Ireland. It developed from a rural village by the River Dodder, with a second settlement, Upper Fir-house, nearby. It is just outside the M50 orbital motorway, and in the postal district of Dublin 24. It is adjacent to Knocklyon and Ballycullen, and close to Tallaght. In the historic divisions of local administration, Firhouse is in the civil parish of Tallaght and the barony of Uppercross.
Evening Class is a 1996 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. It was adapted as the award-winning film Italian for Beginners (2000) by writer-director Lone Scherfig, who failed to formally acknowledge the source, although at the very end of the closing credits is the line 'with thanks to Maeve Binchy'.
Quentins is a 2002 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. The title refers to Quentins Restaurant, a fictional upscale dining establishment in central Dublin, Ireland. The restaurant was referenced numerous times in previous Binchy titles; this novel explores its 30-year history as well as the lives of its patrons. The novel was produced as a BBC Word for Word audiobook in 2003.
Light a Penny Candle is a 1982 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. Her debut novel, it follows the friendship between an English girl and an Irish girl over the course of three decades, beginning with the English girl's stay in Ireland during the Blitz. It is one of Binchy's best-known novels.
Circle of Friends is a 1990 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. Set in Dublin, as well as in the fictitious town of Knockglen in rural Ireland during the 1950s, the story centres on a group of university students. The novel was adapted into a 1995 feature film directed by Pat O'Connor.
Tara Road is a 2005 film directed by Gillies MacKinnon. It is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Maeve Binchy.
Firefly Summer is a 1987 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. Set in an Irish small town, this third novel by Binchy depicts the changes that affected the country in the late twentieth century. BBC Radio 4 produced a 6-episode, 3-hour dramatization of the novel in 2008.
Circle of Friends is a 1995 film directed by Irish filmmaker Pat O'Connor, and based on the 1990 novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy.
The Copper Beech is a 1992 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. Set in the 1950s and 1960s, the storyline follows the lives of 12 characters living in a small Irish town, in chapters with interlocking plot elements. The novel was recorded as a BBC audiobook in 2007.
Heart and Soul is a 2008 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. The plot centers around what Binchy terms "a heart failure clinic" in Dublin and the people involved with it. Several characters from Binchy's previous novels, including Evening Class, Scarlet Feather, Quentins, and Whitethorn Woods, make appearances.
Nights of Rain and Stars is a 2004 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy.
Gordon Snell is a British author of children's literature and scriptwriter. He was married to Irish author Maeve Binchy from 1977 until her death in 2012. He lives in the home that he shared with his late wife in Dalkey, outside of Dublin, Ireland.
The Dalkey Book Festival is an annual literature festival held in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland, for four days in June. Since its inception in 2010 by Sian Smyth and David McWilliams, the festival has been held at a variety of venues in Dalkey, including Dalkey Castle, the local Town Hall, the Masonic Lodge, both churches, the local primary school, the medieval graveyard and at various local cafes, bars and hostelries of the town. The compact nature of the town, its historic architecture and its location prompted the BBC's foreign correspondent John Simpson to call Dalkey "the loveliest little seaside town on Earth."
Minding Frankie is a 2010 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy.
Silver Wedding is a 1988 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. Set in London, Dublin, and the west of Ireland in the year 1985, the novel explores the lives and inner feelings of a couple and their family and friends who are about to celebrate the couple's 25th wedding anniversary.
Chestnut Street is a 2014 short story collection by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. It was published posthumously by her husband, Gordon Snell. It contains 36 short stories, the majority never before published, which Binchy had written over a period of decades. Each story centers around a different resident or family living on or connected to the fictional Chestnut Street in Dublin.