Evening Class (1996) by Maeve Binchy

 

🛵 Reading Maeve Binchy's is always a blissful moment. Well, this is only my second read (the first one is Scarlet Feather - a lovely one), but I know I can always count on Maeve Binchy's whenever I need a soothing and delightful reading. This one is no exception. If book is food, this has been a scrumptious dessert. The good news is, Binchy's are always a long reading (usually more than 400 pages), and she's a prolific writer. Meaning that I can never run out of Maeve Binchy's whenever I need one.

🛵 Evening Class is about some dozen of Irish people, whose lives seemed to be on a dead end, and then found relieves after joining an evening class on Italian. Each chapter telling the story of one character after another, how he or she ended up joining the evening class. Interestingly, their lives are intertwined with one or some of the other characters. The story then reached a climax when all the class joined up on a dream trip to... of course... Italy. A good structure, in my opinion, so that even when there are (too) many characters involved, the story never feels disjointed. 🛵 It all begins with a Latin teacher in the Mountainview College called Aidan Dunne. What with a failing marriage - that made him stranger in his own house - and a dead-end career, his only indulgence is in everything Italian - a subject very dear to his heart. Luckily, the teacher who became the new principle (the position Aidan had been certain were to be his) fell in love with Aidan's daughter, and to help her father from humiliation, he offered Aidan chance to propose anything he felt worth for the college. Hence, the idea of an evening class, subjecting to Italian course. The teacher recruited was another 'lost' soul. Nora O'Donoghue - everybody calls her Signora - is a spinster. She's been living in Italy, following the love of her life - who ended up marrying another woman, following his family's choice. She lived alone near this man's home for years, until the man died, and she was asked to go away. 🛵 Bitter and penniless, but with a loving nature and love for Italy, Signora is the perfect teacher for the evening class. The students love her, with her childish eccentricity and mystery. She transforms the Italian course into a fun adventure, every Tuesday and Thursday evening. They don't just learn about language, but also the food, art, culture, etc. Signora's lifelong passion for Italy really made the class sparks with joy. The students - thirty of them - consist of people from various background. One of them had been involved with shady activities; another had been in a disastrous marriage; while the other had a shock of a huge scale. They have one thing in common though, a struggle and unhappiness in life. The evening class helps lightening up the burden, and little by little, it becomes their source of happiness. The evening class, in one way or another, had been catalyst for happier changes to all of them.
🛵 I loved everything about this book. The writing is obvious - Maeve Binchy was a marvelous writer who could always tell stories that pull us into it. Once you start a chapter, you wouldn't be able to put it down. The characters are mostly relatable, although there were too many of them that some of them weren't developed enough. But the star character here, which I only realized near the end, was Signora. And hers' happened to be my favorite storyline of all. I loved, too, the Italian side of the story. Their visit to Italy was the 'star of the show' for me; the vibes permeated the last part of the story. What a delicious, charming book, that I could enjoy to the last drop!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scarlet Feather (2000) by Maeve Binchy #ReadingIrelandMonth24

💓Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have two things in common: passion of cooking and dream of having their own catering business. They've known each other since culinary school, and been cultivating their dream ever since. This story is about the realization of that dream, their journey from nobody to be a respectable business entity. But not only that, this story is also about their individual struggles to maintain balance between career and personal lives, as well as the lives and struggles of people and families around them. In short, this is a story about friendship, family, love, and humanity.

💓 This is a book about people, rather than a plotted story. Reading it, you'll feel like you become a part of their circle for a certain period of time. It's like you are closely related to every one, moving around from one's house to another. You see, therefore, their ups and downs, and that you're rejoicing at their triumphs, heartbroken at their sorrows. As the title hinted, the main characters are Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, the owners of Scarlet Feather - their catering business. But the story also revolves around three families: the Mitchells, the Scarlets, and the Feathers.

💓 Cathy, the daughter of a maid, has married into the wealthy Mitchells, in whose house Cathy's mother used to clean. We follow how the two families awkwardly get along with each other, while the Feathers are rather circling on the outer edge of the stage. Interestingly, there are two characters who bind the scattered characters together: Maud and Simon. They are ten years old cousins of Neil Mitchell, Cathy's husband; two broken-home children of an unstable couple.

💓 When Maud and Simon's parents aren't capable of looking after them, Cathy and Neil bring them to stay temporarily in Waterview, their house. Cathy often brings them to the premises - meaning Scarlet Feather's - and so Tom and the staffs become acquainted to them too. Then Cathy's parents agree to take the children at their house, and the rest is history. The children's wild temperament are tamed by Lizzie and Muttie. And along the process, they steal and touch many people's hearts. So much so, that people are, at different stage, concerned when they're missing, and equally rejoiced and relieved when they're safely found.

💓 In short, this is a heartwarming book that reminds me again, that hardworking and kindness are always worth in the end. Perhaps the reward isn't a life changing fortune, but a series of small contentment through our days which warm our heart always, and give us courage to keep doing it, and to convince us that life is, indeed, good after all. It impressed me much that Binchy could weave this seemingly everyday stories into a wholesome reading experience, that though it is 500 pages long, there isn't any passage that felt dull or unnecessary. I couldn't stop reading through the pages, yet I hoped it never come to an end. That is a sign of a brilliant book, is it not? I adored this book, and I think I will look forward to every #ReadingIrelandMonth from now on, just to be able to read another Binchy! Which one do you suggest I read next?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Reading Ireland Month 2024

hosted by: Cathy @ 746 Books