This Year It Will Be Different, and other stories Binchy, Maeve

Product Description From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends, The Glass Lake, and Evening Class comes a stunning collection of fifteen Christmas stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis. . . . In "Pulling Together," a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point as Christmas Eve approaches. . . . And in the title story, "This Year It Will Be Different," a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs. . . These stories, and a dozen more, powerfully evoke many lives--from step-families grappling with exes to children caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden. The time of year may be magical, imbued with meaning. But the situations are timeless. And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all. Review "Poignant. . . Compassionate. . . All the stories boast Binchy's deft touch and knowing warmth." --San Francisco Chronicle "What makes [Binchy's] stories so inviting is the subtle way they tilt from humor to sorrow, then back again, in the blink of an eye." --Detroit News/Free Press "Wonderful." --Cincinnati Post "Timeless." --Kansas City Star "A delight." --Chattanooga Free Press From the Publisher "Poignant. . . Compassionate. . . All the stories boast Binchy's deft touch and knowing warmth." --San Francisco Chronicle "What makes [Binchy's] stories so inviting is the subtle way they tilt from humor to sorrow, then back again, in the blink of an eye." --Detroit News/Free Press "Wonderful." --Cincinnati Post "Timeless." --Kansas City Star "A delight." --Chattanooga Free Press From the Inside Flap From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends, The Glass Lake, and Evening Class comes a stunning collection of fifteen Christmas stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis. . . . In "Pulling Together," a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point as Christmas Eve approaches. . . . And in the title story, "This Year It Will Be Different," a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs. . . These stories, and a dozen more, powerfully evoke many lives--from step-families grappling with exes to children caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden. The time of year may be magical, imbued with meaning. But the situations are timeless. And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all. About the Author Maeve Binchy was born and educated in Dublin. She is the bestselling author of Evening Class, The Glass Lake, The Copper Beech, The Lilac Bus, Circle of Friends, Silver Wedding, Firefly Summer, Echoes, Light a Penny Candle, London Transports, two plays, and a teleplay that won three awards at the Prague Film Festival. She has been writing for The Irish Times since 1969 and lives with her husband, Gordon Snell, in Dublin. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. This Year It Will Be Different Ethel wondered had it anything to do with her name. Apart from Ethel Merman there didn't seem to be many racy Ethels; she didn't know any Ethels who took charge of their own lives. At school there had been two other Ethels. One was a nun in the Third World, which was a choice, of course, but not a racy choice. The other was a gray sort of person, she had been gray as a teenager and she was even grayer in her forties. She worked a