Whitethorn Woods

This book is about a variety of people and their life stories. Each fascinating and well written with twists and turns. Fun to read!

It was fun to read this book with seemingly separate short stories that all intersect at some point, revolving around a sacred well in Rossmon. It’s my first Maeve Binchy novel but it won’t be my last.

I've been a fan of Binchy's work since high school. Her stories of Irish communities have always touched me and made for great comfort reading. I always feel good when I read a Binchy book, and it is such a pleasure to visit the kinder and fairer world that Binchy creates for us.Her last book before this one, The Night of Rain and Stars, didn't touch me as much as her previous books did, which is why I am so thrilled to report that Maeve Binchy's work on Whitethorn Woods is back to its previous high standards! I loved every bit of this charming audio book, and wished there was more. But wait, there was supposed to be!The reviews and synopsis that I have read included all kinds of characters and adventures that didn't show up in my abridged CD version of this book. Usually when something is abridged, I expect that I lost a bit of dialogue or description here or there, but whole chapters, many of them, were left out of this one! There are characters that I never met and whole storylines chopped out of this book.At the end, not knowing how much had been lost, I did still feel that there was more to be resolved, and lo and behold, there was. I listen to 2-10 audiobooks a month, some of which are abridged and some of which are not, and it is rare to find an audiobook abridged so thoroughly - I really feel as though I missed half the book!So 5 stars and a huge rave for this book - I just loved all the characters and storylines, and the writing quality was excellent. But a grouchy 2 stars for the abridgement of this audiobook. Please publishers, next time don't abridge it, or if you do, don't cut out whole chapters, please.

No one can make characters come alive in a few short paragraphs better than Maeve Binchy. She brings the most interesting characters to Whitehorn Woods, a satsifying page turner set in a small Irish town. Based on a proposed highway that would destroy St. Ann's well, which is thought to bring miracles to many, we meet diverse characters who are somehow connected to the shrine. Ms. Binchy is a genius when it comes to creating a conventional person who has more depth and layers than we would expect.All of the characters have challenges and they learn how to use their talents to better their lives and others. I would have liked to have some of the stories resolved, particularly the tragic tale of the stolen baby. It probably was more realistic that the long-suffering mother never knew what happened to her daughter, but I did want the child robber punished and the child to know her background. I could come to terms with the other characters' fate, but this story was the most heartbreaking.There is a "Hollywood" ending in regards to the proposed highway which tied up the many pieces of the plot. And, of course, the hero was the character who was not considered the brightest or most ambitious. A good read.

Took me forever to slog through this book. Not really sure why so many characters lives had to be described to get to the finale….

I normally love Maeve Binchy books but this one I just couldn’t get into that much I understand that she writes about Irish characters and Irish neighborhoods and true this story is about an Irish town and residents but I wanted it all to be tied up in a nice bow and, to me, it wasn’t. Some of the characters, I wanted to know more about and some I wish I had never met. This was a tiny Irish, Catholic town. There was going to be a bypass road constructed and some of the residents wanted it and some did not, some were going to profit and some were not. Maybe it was my state of mind. We’re almost a year into a Pandemic and we have just gotten a new small puppy that took my interest. I will be reading more of Maeve Binchy’s books and I know I’ll recommend her to family and friends- just maybe not this one so much.

At first, I was a bit confused by the way Maeve Binchy wrote this novel. Each chapter introduced a short story about a member of the Rossmore community. Then I realised it was a clever way to introduce people of a small community connected by the woods, a religious well and the development of a new highway going through some of the property. the varied views of how the new road would cut through the woods and destroy the holy well brought together the lives of the characters. Fun read.

As in most of Maeve's novels her characters and their intertwining lives make for a wonderfully human read. The folks and all of their talents and foibles-one can just picture each person, the setting and wonder what is next. So fun. Thank you!

It's sad to give such a low rating to a book that started out with so masterly a description of the priest, Father Flynn. I'm afraid for me it was downhill all the way after that. Rather than a cohesive book this is a collection of roughly put together stories with a cast of thousands far too many of whom you couldn't care less about.The tales of some of them aren't even resolved by the end of the book. The feel good element was missing and it was not in any way credible that the character introduced as being mentally challenged was miraculously able to organise the solution to the magic well/new road problem

Normally Love Maeve Binchy books. But found this difficult to read. Too many characters that I felt confused. They did link together but not in a very cohesive way.Wanted to get to the end rather than sitting back and enjoying the journey.

I have listened to the audio book read by Kate Binchy and it is a superb collection of connected short stories. I suspect most of the bad reviews were expecting a novel and so were disappointed. There are a wonderful collection of characters and a real mix of emotion from sad to laugh-out-loud funny. Since the audio book is abridged there are hopefully more characters and stories to discover in the printed book and I am looking forward to it.

Hadn't read one of her books in years ,forgotten how fabulous she is ,count out this book down . What a fantastic story .

I love Maeve Binchy's books and this was great and very cleverly done as each story answered questions or have more info on previous characters so that by the end of the book everything was known.