The Return Journey - Softcover

Ruby M. Ayres

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1407235222 ISBN 13: 9781407235226

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955

Synopsis

Stories about ordinary people going about ordinary lives will always be fascinating when told by a writer blessed with extraordinary talent, insight, and compassion. '- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) In this extraordinary collection of stories, the world-wide bestselling author of Evening Class once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy creates powerful compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation. A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip; a man and a woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be; an insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house-sitter who opens the wrong doors; a pair of star-crossed travelers pick up each other's bags, and then learn when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life. These and many more poignant, ironic, often humorous stories - unforgettable slices of life -make up The Return Journey, a spellbinding trip into the human heart.

About this title

Review:

The Return Journey is a collection of 14 short stories of life, love, and learning that enables the most harried reader to enjoy a well-told tale in its entirety before checking on the kids or folding the clothes. In the tradition of Binchy's classic tales Circle of Friends and Tara Road, this consummate summer beach book introduces readers not to models of literary and romantic indefectibility, but to folks just like us, who have bad hair days, runs in their hose, and freckles both physical and metaphorical. The title story paints a portrait of the embattled relationship between a mother who left her home in Dunglass, Ireland, and her daughter, who has traveled to Ireland to find her history and finds love, as well. Through weekly correspondence, mother and daughter repair the damage to their relationship, laying to rest ghosts of an earlier mother-daughter relationship gone irrevocably wrong. And Binchy's "Victor and St. Valentine" renews faith that truly romantic men do exist and are often overlooked, their motives suspect in an increasingly self-reliant world. No one can accuse Binchy of overtelling a tale; she has perfected the art of leading her readers to the verge and then allowing them to loose their imaginations as they see fit. A wonderful and thoroughly engaging read. --Alison Trinkle

From the Publisher:

Praise for Maeve Binchy:

"Stories about ordinary people going about ordinary lives will always be fascinating--when told by a writer blessed with extraordinary talent, insight, and compassion."
--The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

"The incomparable Maeve Binchy proves that storytelling is all."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"What makes [Binchy's] stories so inviting is the subtle way they tilt from humor to sorrow, then back again, in the blink of an eye."
--Detroit News/Free Press

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 1955
• ISBN 10: 1407235222
• ISBN 13: 9781407235226
• Binding: Paperback