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Quentins by Maeve Binchy

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Reviews In Binchy's latest, fans will encounter familiar characters from Evening Class, Tara Road, and Scarlet Feather-which is sometimes a distraction. The novel primarily chronicles Ella Brady and her involvement with Dublin's finest restaurant, Quentins. Ella wants to make a documentary film about Quentins that will capture the dramas revolving around restaurant life. The film's financial backer, Derry King, becomes Ella's suitor after she has a terrible experience with a married, thieving investment advisor. This advisor-and his possible suicide-brings a bit of suspense to an otherwise ordinary tale. Not Binchy's best, this will still certainly be demanded by your patrons. Recommended for all public libraries. [Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and BOMC main selections.]-Carol J. Bissett, New Braunfels P.L., TX Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Fans of the bestselling Binchy will be grateful that the basic formula is still intact-decent people pulling through hard times-and that some favorite characters from previous novels reappear: Cathy Scarlet from Scarlet Feather, Nora from Evening Class, Ria from Tara Road and others. When Dubliner Ella Brady's affair with a married financial consultant turns sour-he bilks his clients of their hard-earned money and then hightails it to Spain-she decides to throw herself into something productive: she agrees to help with a documentary about Quentins, a once-modest Dublin restaurant whose increasing success and sophistication over the past 30 years mirrors the changing fortunes of the city itself. Ella collects stories of customers who recall celebrating life's milestones at Quentins. These vignettes (about a man who learns he's to be a grandfather, a girl who finishes school with honors, and other regular folks) are meant to fill out the too-thin tale, but most of them end a little too neatly to be satisfying. Binchy doesn't exactly trade in suspense (can there ever be any doubt that a Binchy heroine will do the right thing? Or that goodness will ultimately be rewarded?), but this novel is more tepid than other works in her oeuvre. Still, readers who love hardworking, honest-living characters with strong values can get their fix here. (Oct. 28) Forecast: Binchy lite this may be, but even so, it is sure to be a holiday favorite. The audio version (from Penguin Audiobooks) will be available simultaneously. BOMC, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. Adult/High School-This book continues Binchy's stories set in modern Dublin (Evening Class [1997], Tara Road [1999, both Dell], and Scarlet Feather [Signet, 2002]). In this Dublin of euros and international cuisine, there is nary a leprechaun-or even a kindly priest-in sight. Its inhabitants are proud of their cosmopolitan attitudes, but underlying their lives and choices are strengths of family and friendship, and a loving kindness, that still confirm the outsider's hopeful expectations about traditional Irish culture. Here, Ella Brady, a young woman emerging from a charmed childhood, hits her first major snag in life when her lover, a well-known financier, turns out to be a swindler (this comes as no surprise to readers). When he disappears along with his clients' money, just about everyone in Dublin seems to suffer some loss, but Ella's is also deeply personal. To keep busy, she helps put together a documentary film project centering on Quentins, a famous restaurant that embodies, in its own history, the social modernization and economic progress of the city and its people. With the help and unconditional support of family and friends, Ella sorts out her emotional life, but there is some suspense in the process. Binchy's fans will be gratified and comforted by this paradoxically cozy tale of a painful coming-of-age.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Publication Details

Title: Quentins

Author(s):

  • Maeve Binchy

Illustrator:

Binding: Paperback

Published by: Orion: , 2005

Edition:

ISBN: 9781407208138 | 1407208136

368 pages. 11.7 x 2.8 x 17 centimetres (0.2

  • ENG- English
Book Condition: Very Good
3599f

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