I have written about today’s riches of Irish writers, some to my taste and others definitely not but Maeve Binchy was writing of a different Ireland, somewhat contemporary with Edna O’Brien. This is a country still under the iron control of the church when abortion is illegal but illegitimate babies are almost forbidden; women bearing the brunt of life’s difficulties as usual.
Maeve Binchy, author of many books about the minutiae of small-town Ireland, writes with consummate ease about the hopes and fears, loves and secrets of the inhabitants. Personally, having lived in a Somerset village for some years, I later realised that it was generally understood that nothing could possibly happen there. How wrong that perception was. All life was there; of all shades and nuances.
In ‘The Copper Beech’ we are introduced to a class of small children in a village school with the eponymous tree outside. Then the following chapters tell the in-depth story of each character which builds satisfyingly into a layered story as they are all gathered together under the copper beech at the satisfying (just slightly cheesy) ending.
This book was a very enjoyable read. I want to say it felt like excellent, slightly old-fashioned storytelling and I don’t use that description in any disparaging way. If you like this then you are extremely fortunate as there is much more to enjoy.