 First edition | |
| Author | Maeve Binchy |
|---|---|
| Country |  Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Century |
Publication date | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 592 pp |
| ISBN | 0-091-77989-8 |
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.
According to the Irish Examiner , the title comes from a lyric in the Arthur Colahan song "Galway Bay", which was popularized by American singer Bing Crosby in a 1947 recording. The song speaks of Ireland from the point of view of an emigrant who wishes he could go back to his native country. [1] Alternately, the title may refer to a Catholic devotional practice. [2]
London was a dangerous place to live during World War II, and many children were evacuated to Ireland or the United States. Elizabeth White, an only child, is sent to live with her mother's childhood friend and her large and bustling family, the O'Connors, in Ireland. Although the mothers were childhood friends, their relationship has become one-sided with Elizabeth's mother, Violet, rarely corresponding and Aisling's mother, Eileen, remembering their closeness with detailed letters. Violet believes even though Ireland is not as refined as London, it is a safe place for her daughter.
Elizabeth quickly becomes fast friends with Aisling, who is also ten years old. The novel follows these two girls as they grow into teenagers and young women. Aisling is outgoing and bold, while Elizabeth is quiet with all the manners of a well-bred child. Elizabeth is shown a caring, loving family and begins to feel part of a real family, as opposed to the cold environment of her parents' house. After the war ends and Elizabeth returns to London, their friendship continues for decades. They remain in close contact through letters, supporting each other through their marriages. Their lives remain intertwined, each facing her own relationships, successes, and failures.
Childhood – with its attendant growing pains and interactions at school and with members of the clergy – figures prominently in the novel. Kenny notes that Binchy was comfortable using young girls as main characters in her early novels as she had "observed children closely" while working as a teacher, and had become aware "how well a child can 'carry' a narrative". Children as major characters receded from Binchy's storytelling beginning with Tara Road in 1998. [3]
Friendship is another theme that would play a prominent role in Binchy's oeuvre. In this novel, Binchy charts the course of a friendship from ages 10 to 30, [4] "from idyllic childhood to turbulent adulthood", [5] with each girl offering support to the other through letters and visits.
Religion plays an important role in the novel, as Binchy contrasts the Catholic schooling of Aisling's family in Ireland with the Protestant belief system of Elizabeth's family in London. Catholicism is depicted as "largely a religion of warmth and generosity", according to Kenny, who adds wryly, "The character of Father Riordan even conveys his disappointment that after living with a Catholic family and being educated in a convent for five years, Elizabeth did not decide to convert to Catholicism". [3]
Other themes include sex, domestic abuse, alcoholism, mental health and depression, and abortion. [3] [6]
Binchy began writing short stories in the 1970s. Her first two collections, Victoria Line and Central Line, were moderate successes, selling 5,000 and 4,000 copies respectively. [7] Binchy wrote Light a Penny Candle, her first novel, at the urging of her agent, who recommended that she choose as a topic that was familiar to her. According to Binchy, this was "the differences between the Irish and the English", as she was then living in London and working as a journalist for The Irish Times. [7] She worked on the novel in "5000-word bursts" over a series of 40 weekends in 1981, producing a 240,000-word manuscript. [8]
Binchy's agent typed the manuscript herself and sold it to Rosemary Cheetham, the fiction editor at MacDonalds Publishers, for £5,000. After Cheetham moved to the Century publishing company, Binchy paid back the MacDonalds advance and also moved to Century. Light a Penny Candle was Century's first title. [7]
Though the editor asked her to add some explicit sex scenes to the novel, Binchy refused, "not from reasons of prudishness, but because, she said, she liked to write from experience or observation, and quite frankly, her sexual experience wasn't very exotic, and she felt sure she'd be bound to get the logistics wrong if she tried to make it all up". [3] After the novel became a best-seller without explicit sex scenes, any suggestion to "hot up" the material in future books was a non-starter. [3] Binchy's discreet references to sexual activity in this and later novels were said to be appreciated by her American readers. [3] She also refrained from printing blasphemy. Binchy once explained that the outburst "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" was not a swear term but "a common Irish expression and not intended disrespectfully". [3]
Binchy received an initial advance of £5,000 for the novel. [7] [9] Light a Penny Candle set a British record for a first novel with a prepublication advance of £52,000 from Coronet. [7] [10] [11] It was published in England in September 1982 and the following year was scheduled to appear in French, Danish, and Finnish translations. [8] In the United States, the novel was published in hardcover by Viking Press in 1982 and in paperback by Dell Publishing in 1989. [7] Viking paid Binchy $200,000. [9] It was chosen as a main selection by the Literary Guild. [12] This led to another $50,000. [9] The French publisher paid Binchy 50,000 francs for this privilege. [9]
Light a Penny Candle is one of Binchy's best-known novels. [5] In a contemporary review, Dennis Drabelle of The Washington Post wrote that although it is Binchy's first novel, "its narrative brio seems the work of a veteran". [2] George Turner of The Age observed that the female characters were "strongly drawn" while the male characters were "moral weaklings all, with scarcely a redeeming feature, no doubt readily recognizable in a woman's world". [13] Sherryl Connelly of the Akron Beacon Journal enthused, "Maeve Binchy has written a first novel that could be mistaken for life. The ordinariness of the book's characters, the accuracy of the telling and the honesty of its outcome pay homage to reality by making it readable. Eminently readable". [4] Describing the novel as 542 pages of "good characterization, flowing dialogue and a realistic plot", a Santa Cruz Sentinel review augured that "This first effort ought to establish [Binchy's] credibility as a writer of extraordinary insight and craft". [14]
The novel was adapted into a 2019 stage play directed by Peter Sheridan, which was performed at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, and Everyman Theatre in County Cork in Spring 2019. [15] [16]
Maeve, Maev or Maiv is a female given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish name Méabh, which was spelt Meadhbh in Early Modern Irish, Meḋḃ or Meaḋḃ in Middle Irish, and Medb in Old Irish. It may derive from a word meaning "she who intoxicates", "mead-woman", or alternatively "she who rules". Medb is a queen in Irish mythology who is thought to have originally been a sovereignty goddess.
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.
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.
Mary Dorcey is an Irish author and poet, feminist, and LGBT+ activist. Her work is known for centring feminist and queer themes, specifically lesbian love and lesbian eroticism.
Maxi is a former musician and radio presenter in the Republic of Ireland. Maxi performed with two girl groups and the Irish supergroup The Concerned in the 1970s–80s, also representing Ireland at the 1973 and 1981 Eurovision Song Contests. After an automobile accident left her hospitalized, she focused on becoming a presenter for RTÉ; she retired from the broadcaster in 2015 after 30 years.
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.
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.
Mary McCarthy (1951–2013) was an Irish novelist from Glasnevin in Dublin.
Aisling is an Irish language feminine given name meaning "dream" or "vision". It refers to an aisling, a poetic genre that developed in Irish poetry during the 17th and 18th centuries. There is no evidence that it was used as a given name before the 20th century. The name is included in Reverend Patrick Woulfe's 1923 collection of Irish names, with the comment that the name was in use in Derry and Omeath.
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 eight characters and those closest to them living in a small Irish town, in chapters with interlocking plot elements. Reviews are positive about this novel with an unusual structure.
Danielle Ryan is an Irish actress, philanthropist and entrepreneur.
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.
Nights of Rain and Stars is a 2004 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy.
A Week in Winter is a novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. It was published posthumously in 2012. It set a record for the most pre-orders ever for a book on Amazon.com.
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.
