Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I read this book years and years ago and it was lovely to re-read as forgotten how much I like this author. This was a great read, great storyline and location. Loved it.

I first read this book 14 years ago but what a joy it was to revisit. Nobody can write better than the much missed Maeve Binchy. She understands the Irish character and all its rich tapestry, better than any other modern writer. Her characters are written with a depth of understanding and knowledge and empathy . She captures all the nuances of an Ireland of the early sixties, still coming to terms with her newfound freedoms but still enmeshed in the class systems. It's into this society that young Clare is born to struggling small shopkeepers . She's determined to study her way to a better life and succeeds in winning a place at university with the support and encouragement of her teacher Angela who, herself had beaten the odds and escaped the stigma of a drunken father. She's had to shelf her own dreams and ambitions in order to card for her ageing mother. She pours all her hopes and dreams into Clare. However, Clare falls in love with he son of the local doctor, considered gentry in their small seaside community. She's seen as betraying her own class by her family and neighbours and looked down upon by David's family and friends . Therein lies a struggle which they have to overcome. I won't spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read it but can highly recommend this brilliant book . It's a perfect snapshot of an Ireland of yesteryear but which still has echoes today

I am a fan of Maeve Binchy and for the first three quarters of this book I was an enthralled as usual in the lives of the fabulous collection of characters and how they weave into one another. Then the last quarter (or perhaps a little less ) it’ was as if Ms Binchy handed it over to someone else to finish. Someone way less talented who couldn’t be bothered to think through what was happening. The timings went to pot and the previously carefully crafted characterisation went to pot.
I hate to score only three stars but it was such a disappointment after such a promising if long start.

A great book from Maeve Binchy.
Clare is the daughter of a shopkeeper in a small Irish seaside town. She is fiercely intelligent and, encouraged by her teacher, gains a scholarship to senior school and then to University in Dublin.
David, the son of the town's GP, is a few years older than Clare, and seemingly unaware of her existence, except as one of the kids in the town.
Gerry is the 'lad about town', fancied by all the girls, both resident and summer visitors.
Many other characters populate this book, from Miss O'Hara, the teacher, to Father Flynn, the eccentric priest, all of them sympathetically written.
This is a tale of growing up, small-town Ireland and prejudice. Will their backgrounds determine the fates of Clare, David and Gerry, or will they overcome these.
A real page-turner of a read, with charming descriptions of life in 1950s and 60s Ireland.

I have read some of Maeve Binchy's books before and enjoyed them immensely so was really excited to read this one.

Firstly, it's really long - lots and lots of details that I felt didn't always add to the story. However, the different points of view were well told and completed the story.

As with all Ms. Binchy's books, she focuses on the characters and their development, and the intimate details of their surroundings which always draws you into the story and it is easy to become emotionally attached to the characters.

Overall, if you're a fan you will enjoy this one. It's just not my favourite one.

This is one of Maeve Binchy’s best novels. In fact I’d go as far as to say it’s my favourite because of the depth of the characterisation, the politics of a small village and the class divide that can exist there, driving it’s young people to escape. I wanted to read it again in lockdown because like her novel Circle of Friends, this is a comfort book for me. It’s a romance, not without its flaws and grittiness, but within a relatively safe and possibly nostalgic past.
In early 1960s Castle Bay Clare O’Brien and David Power are children, distanced by a rigid social code that brands the O’Brien’s as the shanty Irish family from the village shop. Whereas the Powers family are middle class and well respected as David’s father is the village GP. It is expected that David will do well at school and read medicine at university, but Clare has a fierce longing to learn too. Together down at the echo cave they shout their childhood wishes and eleven year old Clare longs to win a school prize. With help from teacher Angela O’Hara that wish might just be within her grasp. Clare’s intelligence will take her beyond Castlebay and her family to pursue a university career in Dublin. Here, as equals, David and Clare become more than class rivals, The boundaries of Castle Bay don’t exist here and soon they are falling deeply in love. However, fate has a different plan for Clare and David when circumstances drive them both back to the village they hoped to leave behind. That means facing their differences once again, family expectations and for Clare the loss of her dream. Can their relationship survive?
The village is so well described that I can imagine it, with the status of men like David’s father and the local priest Father Flynn at the top. They are the authorities in their field and are respected as such. Women are expected to marry and have children - we must remember this is set before the contraceptive pill and Vatican.II so women’s lives are limited. Those who break from this tradition are seen as strange, such as Angela O’Hara who lives alone and flits around the village on her bike. It is clear that she sees an ambition and intelligence in Clare that makes her want to help, so Clare can have more options in life and more freedom.

The two men who court Clare fall into the categories of traditional and modern. Gerry Doyle will live and die in the village. He’s more Clare’s class and would love her to stay so they can follow the traditional path of courting, getting married and babies, Clare rejects Gerry and all he represents. David is softer, accepting of her need to learn and proud of her intelligence, However, when the pair have to return, those traditional roles are exactly what they have; Clare at home, struggling with her mother in law and a new baby while David follows in the footsteps of his father. I find David infuriating, He can see his wife is sinking but seems paralysed to do anything. He knows his mother isn’t helping the situation - in fact she’d like to see the back of Clare, this was the last daughter in law she wanted. Mrs Powers makes me furious at this point, Gerry doesn’t let up and his actions become like those of a stalker. Clare becomes terrified of him. However, it takes Gerry’s action to show her what David has been doing to ease his own depression and disappointment. Even when caught cheating, he doesn’t make enough of a gesture for me to deserve Clare back and although the ending is open, I do feel she will accept him back, I would have much preferred her to turn her back on all of it and become her own woman. I just don’t think she’s strong enough. I feel sadness for Gerry that he loves Clare, and offers her all he has, only to end up drowned in the bay.

I think this a good long read you can really sink into. There’s nothing too graphic or gritty, but It is a great study of rural mid -20th Century Ireland and the class politics in a small coastal village. I like how the book develops slowly and allows us to see the characters as children within their families. The contrast when they’ve been in Dublin at university is huge, They no longer belong in their parent’s version of Castle Bay. I will keep this and probably read it again from time to time because there is so much in it I can find something new on every read. This time it was wonderful to read it as a complete escape from 21st Century life. It was also interesting to compare it to the class divide shown in Sally Romney’s Normal People, set some decades later.

A very enjoyable story of love, hardship, betrayal and how sometimes people have a lot of obstacles to overcome to achieve even the simplest things, like their true potential. Maeve Binchy sets the scene incredibly well, bringing to life small-town Ireland with its prejudices and small minds. Everyone knows everyone else's business, and has an opinion on what they do, and she paints this in an amusing and entertaining way, with some great turns of phrase.

Clare O'Brien's family run a small sweet shop, she is not considered likely to make anything of herself. However, with the help of her teacher, she tries to make the most of her abilities. But there will be many stumbles along the path as some people feel she is trying to improve her station in life and ape her betters. Her story, her life and loves, are just a magical read.

Some of the dialogue has you laughing out loud; at other times you could cry for the injustices. A great read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Arrow for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank to the publishers and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Just imagine, a rainy night, and you and your best friend are sitting in comfy chairs in front of a fire.
Maybe drinking hot chocolate, laughing about something, but when she turns to you and says, "Did I ever tell you the story about David Power and Clare O'Brien”.

Felt like settling back and listening to the beginning of a story so wonderful.

I don’t think you will not be disappointed.

I haven't read any of Maeve Binchy books for years and reading this was like a warm reminder of my younger days. An excellent storyteller, she details lives interwoven with family tensions and traditions. Not a happily ever after ending but maybe a realistic one.

I enjoy Maeve Binchy’s writing style, and she is a wonderful storyteller, her books hold you spellbound. She writes about the everyday lives and loves of her characters.
Echoes is another polished story by the talented Binchy.
I want to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and author Maeve Binchy for a copy of this book to review.