There are emotional tugs of war among the interesting assortment of Irish characters who populate Maeve Binchy's novel "Scarlet Feather" (Dutton, 538 pages, $25.95).
Around some potentially banal situations the strongly opposed marriage of a cleaning woman's daughter into the wealthy family her mother works for, and the inability of a kind, decent young man to forgive his girlfriend Binchy has built a story about the growth of understanding oneself and others.
She also invokes the plight of children in a disrupted home, motives for work and the makings of stability.
Simon and Maud, 8-year-old twins, often steal the show in this story set in Dublin.
Cathy Scarlet, daughter of the cleaning woman, and Tom Feather, a builder's son, have wanted their own catering business since their first year together at cooking school. They have financing for the venture to be called Scarlet Feather and now need only to find a location.
Tom's girlfriend Marcella has a dream, too to be a model. She works in the beauty parlor of a swank store and lives with Tom.
Neil, Cathy's husband, is a barrister devoted to the causes of the world's poor. He's frequently at meetings and in the news.
The story spans a year, from one New Year's Eve to the next.
Cathy and Tom have prepared the goodies for her hostile mother-in-law's New Year's Eve party, which Cathy will run alone since Tom has a date with Marcella. Cathy is determined to show her mother-in-law that she has what it takes.
Meanwhile, Neil is trying to help a black immigrant with legal problems and has brought him to the party. Then the twins arrive, unexpected and uninvited (with no money to pay their cab fare) and carrying overnight bags. They say they were left home alone and had nowhere else to go.
There are changes of heart, a failed dream, worries, crises and triumphs in this story that also has many pleasant surprises.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.