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Copper Beech
  
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Copper Beech (Hardcover)

by Maeve Binchy (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Binchy ( Circle of Friends ; The Lilac Bus ) is a consummate storyteller with a unique ability to draw readers into her tales of Irish life. Here again she mines sources rich in plot and character to produce a captivating narrative. The eponymous copper beech is a huge tree that shades the tiny schoolhouse in the village of Shancarrig. For generations, graduating pupils have carved their initials on the massive trunk, and the book examines what has become of some of them. Though each of the 10 chapters offers the perspective of a single character, Binchy adroitly indicates the ways in which their lives intersect. Thus, the allegedly stolen jewels that are discovered and stolen again in one early chapter become significant in later chapters. Long after two adulterous characters sneak into a Dublin hotel, it emerges that they were spotted by a small soul from Shancarrig, who passes on the information--with unforeseen consequences. A priest's dalliance with the sweet young schoolteacher is shown to have been been suspected by others in the village. The result is a charming and compelling series of interlocking stories about ordinary people who are given dimension through Binchy's empathetic insight. While this book is more fragmentary in structure than some of her previous novels, it should leave Binchy's fans wholly satisfied. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile

Eight children have carved their initials on a copper beech tree in a small Irish town. The following chapters detail these eight as adults. Fionnula Flanagan's lively reading is enhanced by her subtle but effective use of unique voices and accents. The Irish musical interludes are quite fun and create a wonderful ambiance. The abridgment is a little confusing, but eventually the pieces and people fall into place. M.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Copper Beech 3.9 out of 5 stars (24)
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CDN$ 10.91
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Customer Reviews

24 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
2.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, But Not Her Most Uplifting Work, Either, Dec 31 2001
By Cookie Monster's Wife (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)
The other Binchy works I have read, Tara Road, The Glass Lake, Circle of Friends, even the Return Journey (a book of short stories) seem more balanced than this. Those seemed to address both the ups and downs of life. The Copper Beech seems more focused on the despairs. It is not poorly written, just a bit of a downer. Definitely not something to read if you are pregnant, as I am at the moment.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful author!, Nov 29 2001
By Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)
Maeve Binchy can write a story with the best of them. Her characters come to life and the reader really cares about them, since she writes about their hope and dreams, as well as their activities. In The Copper Beech, Binchy details the lives of different people in a small Irish town. Most of the characters are local children who have carved their names in the copper beech tree outside of their school. She describes the class distinctions in the town, which sometimes separate those who have been schoolmates, after they leave their school days. The final chapter ties the characters together and lets the reader in on what has happened to the people that have been described throughout the book. This is a wonderful read!
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1.0 out of 5 stars Pedestrian, Nov 27 2001
This review is from: The Copper Beech (Mass Market Paperback)
I had never read Binchy and was not expecting much, since she regularly appears on bestseller lists. The entire plot can be summarized by the last chapter in which all of the characters lives are resolved into happy, rewarding ones with a wave of Binchy's word processor. Conflicts are resolved offstage, probably because she cannot write about anything more intense than a walk in the woods. Married couples are rewarded with precisely 3 children by the book's end and self-sacrificing types, like Maura, who is a thief and blackmailer, are given the town's love and sympathy. The world Binchy is writing about never existed; she completely ignores the challenges of historical setting and character development for the pablum of pop fiction.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, to be Irish!
The Copper Beech isn't a book for those looking for alot of fast paced action. Instead it's the kind of book that is slow paced and one you don't want to have end. Read more
Published on Nov 12 2001 by M. Glanzer

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Sweet Book
I do rather think that the copper beech tree would have succumbed long ago to all those inroads on its bark. The book is that kind of interweaving story that I like so much. Read more
Published on Nov 3 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Maeve Binchy makes me want to travel to Ireland
I discovered Maeve Binchy some years ago :-). Saw Tara Road on the shelves in my favorite book store here in Norway and it called out to me. Read more
Published on Sep 1 2001 by Britt Arnhild Lindland

4.0 out of 5 stars Warm and cozy, just add a cup of tea.
That is what a Binchy novel is like to me. Hers are books I enjoy for the places she idyllically paints and the characters she puts forth to become a part of her homespun... Read more
Published on Jul 24 2001 by Denise Bentley

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not my favorite Binchy
Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors. To me, her writing is like a mini-vacation from home, and Ireland is definitely a place I'd like to visit. Read more
Published on Jul 9 2001 by K. Melissa Galyon

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of her better books
I have read 4 of Meave Bincy's books now and this one was a disappointment. Didn't seem to hold my interest as well as "CIrcle of Friends" or "Firefly Summer".
Published on Jun 12 2001 by T. Kemp

2.0 out of 5 stars Not one of Binchy's best efforts
I found this a disappointment from one of my favorite authors. The character development was sketchy and the simultaneous stories told separately hard to follow and ultimately... Read more
Published on April 4 2001 by jayjo@prodigy.net

5.0 out of 5 stars wicked good
i thought this book was really good like all her other books, but dont read it unless you have a lot of free time... you wont be able to put it down!
Published on Dec 27 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A Colorful Read
I'm not a Maeve Binchy fan or anything but this book was good enough to keep me up late at nite reading it. I love all her characters in the book. They're all so colorful. Read more
Published on Dec 11 1999 by Bunnee

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the usual Binchy
Although the story was a good one, it was not the usual Maeve Binchy. The mini character stories were choppy and not developed in the usual Binchy fashion. Read more
Published on Nov 21 1999

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