Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Heart and Soul
Book Review: Comforts of Home and Heart...at Work
Summary: 5 Stars
In Maeve Binchy's Heart and Soul, we are immediately welcomed into a circle of warmth and comfort, as we are introduced to each character in this small "heart clinic" in Dublin, Ireland. Adjacent to the hospital, this newly created clinic offers after-care to heart patients--care with a very personal touch. Dr. Clara Casey heads up the clinic, but is known to all as "Clara." This informality and the personal touch both irritate and gall the "money man" from the hospital side (Frank Ennis), who does everything in his power to thwart Clara at every turn.
Nevertheless, she is able to get the clinic up and running and surrounds herself with like-minded staff. Even her personal assistant (Ania), a Polish girl living hand-to-mouth until Clara takes her under her wing, is somewhat of a personal project. Desperate to escape a past of tragic mistakes, Ania is determined to earn enough money to send to her mother in Poland, and somehow alleviate the shame she believes she has brought upon her family.
Each staff member has an equally compelling back-story, and as the weeks and months pass, we become entwined in each of their tales--from the love-challenged Fiona and Declan to Clara's own daughter Linda--until finally, we begin to see how the warm circle of love that surrounds Clara and her crew is like a family. We root for each family member and hope that they will find some happiness.
And we definitely hope that Clara will win the battle of wills with her anti-hero Frank--who, in the end, may not be as bad as we thought!
One intriguing aspect of Binchy's books is how she brings in characters from other books, like the oddly fascinating twins Maud and Simon from Scarlet Feather. In this way, the reader is gifted with the cozy contentment that all of these characters are our friends. We expect that we will meet them again--somewhere around the bend, perhaps in another of Binchy's books. And this evokes the desire to curl up with a cup of tea on a blistery day in a lovely sitting room.
Laurel-Rain Snow
Book Review: Dazzling Cover--Dull Story
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't be fooled into buying this. Someone in my book club chose this boring disappointment. Others said her other books were much better than this one with no character development, just numerous people flashing in and out from chapter to chapter. Dialog was monotonous and lacked depth/purpose.Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
I was the biggest Maeve Binchy fan growing up (I even wrote to her once and she was kind enough to write back). Therefore I keep reading her novels in hopes that she will once again write one as entrancing as Light a Penny Candle. Alas, we're not there yet. I enjoyed the beginning of this book about Clara Casey and wish the whole novel had centered on her and her family rather than making extended detours to visit characters from previous novels I barely remembered. Binchy is still a great story teller and unlike many writers, finds the warmth, humanity and trials in people living very ordinary lives. I just felt this novel was disjointed and spent paragraphs on issues that merited whole chapters. Nonetheless, I wish her the best and hope she'll return to her earlier style of writing one day.Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I've read and enjoyed Maeve Binchy's books before, but this one missed the mark. Characters were still being introduced more than half way through the novel and then rarely mentioned again. Story lines seemed to start and stop abruptly, with little direction or tie in to the overall story line. While Clara's story carried throughout, I found myself not caring much about many of the characters and all the detours from her story to be distracting and of little consequence. I did not find these characters to be developed well at all. It's not a book that delivers a well-written story to its readers.Book Review: Easy read, lacking substance
Summary: 3 Stars
I've enjoyed Maeve Binchey's books for many years. In general, her characters are likable, she shares a wonderful love of Ireland and her writing is very engaging. While these elements were there, Heart and Soul was just a little too simple. I like a happy ending as much as anyone, but in general I expect some issues or interest in getting there. This was just all a little too pat. The characters fell into and out of their relationships simply and easily with little real substance. While the Declan Fiona romance was nice and I was glad they got together, it happened a little too perfectly. When Clara decided her relationship just didn't have "it", she simply moved on without any real strife or hard feelings from either (despite that he had even proposed to her). While I don't wish anyone- even fictional characters- ill, I could've used a little more to keep my interest.
On the positive, I enjoyed the repetition of characters from previous books and as always, it was fairly quick to read.