Chestnut Street

Format:

Audio disc

Title:

Chestnut Street

Author:

Binchy, Maeve, 1940-2012.

ISBN:

9780804165075

9780804165099

Publication Information:

[New York] : Random House Audio : Books on Tape, ℗2014.

Physical Description:

10 audio discs (12 hr.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.

General Note:

Unabridged.

Compact discs.

Summary:

"While she was writing columns for The Irish Times and her best-selling novels, Maeve Binchy also had in mind to write a book that revolved around one street with many characters coming and going. Every once in a while, she would write about one these people. She would then put it in a drawer. "For the future," she would say. The future is now. Just around the corner from St. Jarlath's Crescent (which readers will recognize from Minding Frankie) is Chestnut Street, where neighbors come and go. Behind their closed doors we encounter very different people with different life circumstances, occupations, and sensibilities. Written with the humor and understanding that are earmarks of Maeve Binchy's work, it is a pleasure to be part of this world with all of its joys and sorrows, to get to know the good and the bad, and ultimately to have our hearts warmed by her storytelling"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject(s):

Families -- Fiction.

Family life -- Fiction.

Fathers and sons -- Fiction.

Gossip -- Fiction.

Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Pen pals -- Fiction.

City and town life -- Fiction.

Neighbors -- Fiction.

Genre:

Added Author:

Added Corporate Author:

Random House Audio (Firm)

Books on Tape, Inc.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Binchy, M.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Independence Public Library	CD FICTION - BINCHY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	CD FIC BINCHY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Silver Falls Library	CD BINCHY	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	Binchy	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Maeve Binchy imagined a street in Dublin with many characters coming and going, and every once in a while she would write about one of these people. She would then put it in a drawer; for the future, she would say. "The future is now.
"
Across town from St. Jarlath s Crescent, featured in "Minding Frankie, " is Chestnut Street, where neighbors come and go. Behind their closed doors we encounter very different people with different life circumstances, occupations, and sensibilities. Some of the unforgettable characters lovingly brought to life by Binchy are Bucket Maguire, the window cleaner, who must do more than he bargained for to protect his son; Nessa Byrne, whose aunt visits from America every summer and turns the house and Nessa s world upside down; Lilian, the generous girl with the big heart and a fiance whom no one approves of; Melly, whose gossip about the neighbors helps Madame Magic, a self-styled fortune-teller, get everyone on the right track; Dolly, who discovers more about her perfect mother than she ever wanted to know; and Molly, who learns the cure for sleeplessness from her pen pal from Chicago . . .
"Chestnut Street" is written with the humor and understanding that are earmarks of Maeve Binchy s extraordinary work and, once again, she warms our hearts with her storytelling."

Author Notes

Maeve Binchy was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 28, 1940. She received a B.A. from University College in Dublin in 1960. After teaching at a school for girls, she became a journalist, columnist and editor at the Irish Times. By 1979, she was writing plays, a successful television script, and several short story collections.

Her first novel, Light a Penny Candle, was published in 1982. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 20 books including Silver Wedding, Scarlet Feather, Heart and Soul, Minding Frankie, and A Week in Winter. The Lilac Bus and Echoes were made into TV movies, while Circle of Friends, Tara Road and How About You were made into feature films. Her title Chestnut Street is a New York Times Best Seller. She died after a brief illness on July 30, 2012 at the age of 72.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This posthumously published collection of stories revolving around an imaginary street in Dublin was written by Binchy (A Week in Winter) over a period of decades, and approved by her husband, writer Gordon Snell. The earlier stories are more developed than some of the later tales, but overall, the author gives us one last extraordinary look at ordinary people as they struggle with family relationships, romances gone awry, and the possibility for a better future. Standouts include the first story, "Dolly's Mother," in which a shy, unassuming teenager copes with having a kind, charismatic mother who is more popular than she is, and-as is revealed-might not be as perfect as everyone thinks. In "It's Only A Day," Binchy fondly portrays the transformation of three childhood friends into adults, using the lens of their disparate views on romance, as old-fashioned values find a place in their modern worlds. The book is filled with vignettes in which dissatisfied husbands leave their wives, but find their new lives wanting; disparate people find common ground, and even romance; and holding one's tongue leads to the best way to make relationships thrive. While some entries come off more as character studies than actual stories, one finds here insightful observations about human nature-all with Binchy's thoughtful and loving touch that will be sorely missed. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Binchy was well-known for creating realistic characters who interact in ordinary ways, in ordinary places. Before her death, in 2012, she had been jotting down short stories here and there featuring a number of different characters who all lived on the same Dublin street, Chestnut Street. This collection was gathered by her editors and approved by her family for publication. Readers meet plain Dolly, who wants to be just like her glamorous mother; Joyce, a model who gets her comeuppance on a blind date with an obese man; and Kevin Walsh, the taxi driver who keeps strangers' secrets. Many of the stories are quite brief (as short as three pages) but serve as lovely character portraits. There is no common plotline moving the stories along, and some stories are stronger than others, but, overall, the collection works well, and her fans will be pleased. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Binchy's many fans are sure to line up to read this collection of short stories, especially since they know there will be no more.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2014 Booklist

Library Journal Review

In this posthumous release, the inhabitants of each house on Chestnut Street grow up, find love, get married (or not), have children, make sacrifices for their children or parents, and tolerate unpleasant siblings or mates. The neighborhood is as ordinary as the people who live there, yet in each story the protagonist learns something new about himself or herself or the world around them. While listeners may wish for more interaction among the characters, each of the 36 vignettes is complete by itself. Sile Bermingham reads the stories with a gentle Irish accent that fits well with the setting. She modulates her voice with the content and style of the narrator, speaking sharply for tart characters, softly and slowly for dreamers. VERDICT Binchy's many fans are sure to want to listen to this. ["With little to tie the narratives together and a lack of consistency with the characters, it is difficult to develop an emotional attachment to any of the street's residents," disagreed the review of the Knopf hc, LJ 3/15/14.]-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.