"Quentins" didn't blow me away with awesomeness or make me want to recommend it to everyone I know, and yet I still totally enjoyed it. I guess this story, which mostly centers around a Dublin restaurant called Quentins, had kind of an understated charm.
I'd been wanting to read something by Maeve Binchy, an Irish author, for a long time. Not only do her quaint but modern themes and Irish setting appeal to me, I loved the based-on-the-book movie "Circle of Friends." Binchy's novel explores themes of love, friendship and family -- but not in a cheesy way. This is definitely not a romance novel -- it's more of a real-life tale with heartbreak, hard times and people to pick you back up when you fall down.
The crux of the novel is a documentary film to tell the stories behind Quentins, one of the most popular and yet unpretentious restaurants in Dublin. There's a main character, Ella Brady, whose love affair with a married financier ends in disaster. But there are also vignettes about several other more minor characters, which kept the story moving along and made things interesting. In the end, the entire cast comes together at -- where else? -- Quentins.
I really enjoyed the Irish atmosphere and phrases and names in the novel. I could definitely picture real-life Dublin and made-up Quentins in my mind. I love reading novels set in England, Scotland and Ireland because it's fascinating how we can speak the same language but use totally different words. Binchy had several fun turns of phrase that stuck with me and I can't resist sharing:
*silly bowwows (talking about a certain type of dog)
*I was just having a grumble
*I'm as cross as a bag of weasels
I'll definitely read more of Maeve Binchy's work, which is more hefty than chick-lit but still easy and enjoyable. When I went to the author's website to get a picture of the book cover, I saw that Maeve passed away last year. Apparently she had just finished a new novel before she died, and it's due out this spring.
Happy reading!
Sounds like an interesting read. I see she has another new book out. It looked like it may be a good read too.
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