This Year It Will Be Different, Maeve Binchy
This Year It Will Be Different, Maeve Binchy
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This Year It Will Be Different
And Other Stories

Author: Maeve Binchy

Narrator: Fionnula Flanagan

Abridged: 4 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake comes This Year It Will Be Different, a stunning new work that brings us the magic and spirit of Christmas in fifteen stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. Instead of nostalgia, Binchy evokes contemporary life; instead of Christmas homilies, she offers truth; and instead of sugarplums, she brings us the nourishment of holidays that precipitate change, growth, and new beginnings.

In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving New York widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter at odds.  The title story "This Year It Will Be Different" also delves into the emotions of a person at mid-life--a woman with a complacent husband and grown children who are entering a season that can forever alter her life, and theirs.  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 she may be off on a new direction with some unusual friends.  And in the delightful tale "The Hard Core," the four most recalcitrant residents of a nursing home are left alone at Christmas with the owner's daughter in charge: the result is sure to be disaster--or the kind of life-affirming renewal that only the spirit of the season can bring.

The stories in This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evoke many lives--step-families grappling with ex's, long-married couples faced with in-law problems, a wandering husband choosing between "the other woman" and his wife, a child 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 universal. And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all. As the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, "Maeve Binchy's people come to life fully. They make you laugh and cry and disturb your sleep." They do precisely that in this extraordinary collection, on the night before Christmas when we are snug in our beds, or anywhere, any time of the year.

About The Author

Maeve Binchy was born and educated in Dublin. She is the bestselling author of The Return Journey, Evening Class, This Year It Will Be Different, and The Glass Lakes. She has written 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, writer and broadcaster Gordon Snell, in Dublin.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Suz on March 20, 2016

I honestly just love Maeve. I know I will love all of her books as I lift them off my shelf. This book of short stories suited me perfectly, as I have little reading time at the moment. These factors are very important to my reading experience this year. I could read a whole story in the bath, befor......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on July 31, 2023

I wanted to love this book as Maeve Binchy has a fantastic fan base, but it was an 'ok' book for me. Lots of short stories which were fairly similar and after a few they all started to merge into one. I do fully admit I'm not the biggest fan of short stories so perhaps I should try a full-length nove......more

Goodreads review by Christine on November 03, 2022

This is a lovely volume of 15 Christmas short stories by the wonderful Irish author Maeve Binchy. Despite the fact that the vast majority ended too abruptly for my taste, I enjoyed my time with these stories and recommend them to all.......more

Goodreads review by Ellie on December 22, 2020

Rounded up from about 2.5 ⭐️ This year it will be different is comprised of 22 short Christmas stories. Focusing on various people, relationships and difficulties. I often find short-story collections difficult to get stuck into, and unfortunately I had the same issue with this book. It was enjoyable......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on January 19, 2013

Maeve Binchy stories are often sniffed at by literary snobs, but they remind me of a cup of tea on a cold day; one of life's small pleasures. This particular book is a collection of short Christmas stories, some of them entertaining, like the story of a boy who breaks his granny's glasses and feeds......more


Quotes

"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