Review: A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

As a young girl, Chicky Starr was quite content with her life on the rugged West coast of Ireland and was prepared to live out a quiet life in Stoneybridge. When she meets a dashing young man visiting from America, Chicky's plans change and she heads to the US to make a life with her new love. When she ultimately returns to Stoneybridge, Chicky is an independent woman and no longer satisfied to just live a careful life in the small town. She bravely decides to buy the house belonging to the elderly Sheedy sisters and converts it in a guest house. In an effort to bring business to the new endeavor and also celebrate its launch, Chicky offers a week in winter at Stone House. When the lucky guests arrive, readers are treated to learning about each of their stories. In her final book, Maeve Binchy has once again created a delightful cast of characters - I didn't want that A Week in Winter to end!

A Week in Winter starts with Chicky's story and builds out from there. It moves on to Chicky's best friend from childhood and her troubled son, Rigger. Chicky takes Rigger on to work at Stone House and slowly turns his life around. Chicky's niece, Orla, reluctantly returns to Stoneybridge from London where she fled to escape small town life in the West of Ireland. She is at a crossroads in her young life and, despite not wanting to come home, she recognizes the opportunity with her Aunt as a chance to start over. She brings modern sensibilities to the old Stone House with Facebook and Twitter promotions. Like those working at Stone House, the guests are also looking for rejuvenation at the house - even if some are not aware that they are really looking for it. Each has their own unique circumstances which drew them to this week long vacation. For example, Lillian and her daughter in law to be, Winnie, have been thrown together by their love for John and must find a way to get along for his sake. A stern headmaster is sent to Stone House as a present for her retirement but even the breathtaking, rugged beauty of the West can't penetrate her tough exterior. The book reads like a set of interconnected short stories with Chicky and her Stone House as the anchor and consistent thread.

I definitely recommend spending time in the West of Ireland with Chicky and her assortment of family, friends and guests. Author Maeve Binchy completed this book just a few weeks before her death at age 72 in July 2012. Reading her final book was bittersweet - her books are always comfort reads for me and this one was no exception but I was plagued by disappointment realizing this would her last book. I don't generally re-read books but I may need to make an exception with Maeve Binchy.