A week in winter

This was my first Maeve Binchy novel, and I was kinda disappointed. I loved the characters, but I didn't get enough. Each chapter was from a different character's POV and just as I was getting attached ... BAM! New chapter. I kept hoping that it would come back and tie them all together somehow. Maybe there was some bigger unifying idea that I just missed.

It all starts with the tale of Chicky Starr. Having fallen in love with an American, she embarks on a new life with him in the United States. While her family back home in Ireland refuses to believe it will work out, Chicky has high hopes. When things start to crumble she spins tales of wonder and adventure. Despite her life taking an abrupt turn, she maintains her illusionary life to her family and works hard to make a living for herself.

And all Chicky’s hard work pays off as she moves back home and starts on her new journey making Stone House into a hotel. But Stone House is more than just a hotel. Through Chicky’s hard work and determination, she creates a comforting place where people from around the world are drawn to. And within Stone House, they find much more than just a place to vacation.

A Week in Winter is a generational tale, spanning years of couples and family members finding their way to Stone House. Whether they stay to work or seek to find a place to start their life over, each of them takes away a vital life lesson from the time they spend in Stone House. Each character is given a background and history, leading up to the events where they choose to stay at the hotel. Granting the reader a format similar to linked short stories that all center around finding their way.

A Week in Winter is a story for those who enjoy tales of families and characters working through the challenges of life and relationships.

I wish I had known that this book was published posthumously before I started listening to it. I might have chosen another Binchy book instead. With a variety of characters converging on a remote Irish b&b, I kept expecting this novel to turn into whodunit. No such intrigue. This is a twee book and it felt unfinished to me. The individual characters are interesting, but there is a lack of cohesion that bothered me. Oh well.