Nights of Rain and Stars

Last updated

Nights of Rain and Stars
Nights of Rain and Stars.jpg
First edition
Author Maeve Binchy
Country Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
Publisher Orion
Publication date
25 August 2004 (1st edition)
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages336 (hardcover edition)
ISBN 0-7528-5166-7

Nights of Rain and Stars is a 2004 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy.

Contents

Plot

In a small town in Greece, a group of people witness a boating accident and subsequently become tangled in each other's lives. Thomas is a California university professor escaping from a tense relationship with his remarried ex-wife and their son, whom he adores. Elsa, the beautiful German blonde, resigned from her successful television job to escape her ex-boyfriend, whom she still loves. Irish Fiona couldn't stand her family and friends' resentful attitudes towards her boyfriend, Shane, so she and Shane escaped to peaceful Greece. David, a kind Englishman, doesn't want to take over his father's business as his family expects him to, and instead decides to travel.

These strangers meet in a tavern in peaceful Aghia Anna underneath the stars, and soon they become close friends. Vonni, a native who escaped her family in Ireland many years ago, becomes involved in all their lives and together they form bonds and discover things about each other and themselves that they never could have anticipated.

Publication history

Reception

Publishers Weekly wrote, "The setup is flimsy, and the bonds the characters develop are too slender to provide much emotional texture, but Binchy's fans will enjoy this summery page-turner." [1] Donna Meadow wrote for Woman's Day , "The plot is somewhat contrived but Binchy is a good storyteller. It's a good beach read (i.e., not complicated) and certainly put me in the mood to visit Greece." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Red House Mystery</i> 1922 novel by A. A. Milne

The Red House Mystery is a whodunnit by A. A. Milne, published in 1922. It was Milne's only mystery novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maeve Binchy</span> Irish novelist (1939–2012)

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.

<i>The Sigma Protocol</i> Novel by Robert Ludlum

The Sigma Protocol is the last novel written completely by Robert Ludlum, and was published posthumously. It is the story of the son of a Holocaust survivor who gets entangled in an international conspiracy by industrialists and financiers to take advantage of wartime technology.

Donna Jo Napoli is an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, as well as a linguist. She currently is a professor at Swarthmore College teaching Linguistics in all different forms .She has also taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of Pennsylvania,

<i>The Prometheus Deception</i> 2000 novel by Robert Ludlum

The Prometheus Deception is a spy fiction thriller novel written in 2000 by Robert Ludlum about an agent in an ultraclandestine agency known only as the Directorate named Nick Bryson, alias Jonas Barett, alias Jonathan Coleridge, alias The Technician, who is thrown into a fight between an organization he knows as Prometheus and his former employers at the Directorate.

<i>The Glass Lake</i>

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.

<i>Airborn</i> (novel) Novel by Kenneth Oppel

Airborn is a 2004 young adult novel by Kenneth Oppel. The novel is set in an alternate history where the airplane has not been invented, and instead, airships are the primary form of air transportation. Additionally, the world contains fictional animal species such as flying creatures that live their entire lives in the sky. The book takes place aboard a transoceanic luxury passenger airship, the Aurora, and is told from the perspective of its cabin boy, Matt Cruse.

<i>The Janson Directive</i> Novel by Robert Ludlum

The Janson Directive is a novel by Robert Ludlum. The posthumous novel was published in 2002, a year after Ludlum's death.

<i>Tara Road</i>

Tara Road is a novel by Maeve Binchy. It was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in September 1999.

<i>The Tristan Betrayal</i>

The Tristan Betrayal is a novel by Robert Ludlum, published posthumously in 2003. Ludlum wrote an outline shortly before his death. The novel itself was written by a ghostwriter.

<i>The Runes of the Earth</i> 2004 novel by Stephen R. Donaldson

The Runes of the Earth is a fantasy novel by American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, the first book of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. It was first published in 2004.

<i>Renegades Magic</i>

Renegade's Magic is a book by Robin Hobb, the third in her Soldier Son Trilogy. The book follows Nevare, protagonist from the previous two novels, Forest Mage and Shaman's Crossing. Forced to hang for his alleged nefarious crimes, Nevare finally embraces the magic within himself and escapes. The battle between his Gernian and Speck identities is a central feature of the novel, highlighting themes such as loss of identity, and the impact of colonialism on native populations.

<i>Dublin: Foundation</i>

Dublin: Foundation (2004) is a novel by Edward Rutherfurd first published in 2004 by Century Hutchinson and then by Seal Books and Doubleday Canada.

<i>Watchman</i> (novel) 1988 crime novel by Ian Rankin

Watchman is a 1988 novel written by Ian Rankin, and is one of the author's earliest works. Originally published in 1988, it was reissued with a new introduction by Rankin in 2004.

<i>Evening Class</i> 1996 novel by Maeve Binchy

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'.

<i>Dark Fire</i> (Sansom novel) 2004 novel by C. J. Sansom

Dark Fire is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's second novel, released in 2004, and also the second in the Matthew Shardlake Series. Set in the 16th century during the reign of Tudor King Henry VIII, it follows hunchbacked lawyer Shardlake's search to recover the long-lost formula for Greek fire.

<i>Prince of the Blood</i> (novel) 1989 novel by Raymond E. Feist

Prince of the Blood is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the first book of the Krondor's Sons series and was published in 1989. It was later followed by The King's Buccaneer in 1992. A 15th anniversary "author's preferred" edition with portions of the book significantly rewritten was released in 2004. The novel focuses on Borric and Erland conDoin, and their personal growth as they journey to the Empire of Great Kesh and unwittingly become involved in a plot against both their own lives and the Empress herself.

<i>Dexter by Design</i>

Dexter by Design (2009) is a mystery novel written by Jeff Lindsay. It is the fourth novel in the Dexter series, preceded by Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, and Dexter in the Dark, following Dexter Morgan, a sociopathic forensic analyst with a "hobby" of killing killers, as he investigates a serial killer.

<i>Tara Road</i> (film) 2005 American film

Tara Road is a 2005 film directed by Gillies MacKinnon. It is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Maeve Binchy.

<i>The Christmas Tree</i> (novel) 1981 book by Jennifer Johnston

The Christmas Tree is Irish author Jennifer Johnston's sixth novel, first published in 1981 by Hamish Hamilton. It has been suggested by The Irish Times as being her finest work, and was chosen by the Irish Independent to be published as one of the books its "Irish Women Writers" collection. It is one of U.S. writer Lionel Shriver's favourite books and was adapted for television in 1986.

References

  1. "Fiction book Review: Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy". Publishers Weekly . 2004. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  2. Meadow, Donna (30 September 2010). "Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy". Woman's Day . Retrieved 28 October 2019.