Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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I have loved Maeve Binchy's books for years, and this may be my favorite one of all. It is masterful storytelling, the characters so endearing and so creatively woven together. The book is almost a collection of short stories, each told in first person, with the connection being a well where people believe St. Ann grants their wishes. The characters whose lives are touched by the well through belief in its power are so diverse.
The well is located in a small town in Ireland. Binchy is known for the warm stories she tells of rural Irish life, and this is in that genre. But it's more than that too. The characters come from all over the world, drawn for different reasons, to St. Ann's well. Some come to pray for a child, some for a husband, some come to honor their father or their father's father. Some come reluctantly, some with arms open, and some do things of horrifying selfishness there. The way Binchy sprinkles their connection to each other throughout the 300 plus pages is so satisfying.
I can't do justice in this review to Maeve Binchy. I just know that this book is one of the rare ones you want not to end. As the final pages are turning, you wish you could make it keep going. A major thumbs up for Binchy's latest bestseller in hardback, Whitethorn Woods. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio, I'm Amanda Dickson.
