General Chat

........aged 72 following a short illness. Over 40 million of her books were sold worldwide and translated into 42 languages.

Some of her work was also adapted for screen including the 1995 film 'Circle of Friends'.

Ms Binchy was born in Dalkey in Co Dublin and studied at UCD.

She initially worked as a teacher before becoming a journalist, columnist and later women's editor at the Irish Times.

She then moved to London where she continued to work for the paper.

Her early short story collections were based in London and Dublin and featured sharp, funny and often poignant observations of residents of those cities.

Her first novel, 'Light A Penny Candle' was published in 1982 and became a best seller.

Set during World War II and in the following years, it featured many elements that were to characterise her work, life in small town Ireland, family relationships, humour and gripping plots.

She went on to publish many other novels and short story collections among them 'Circle of Friends' and 'Tara Road' both of which were adapted as feature films.

Although she announced her retirement in 2000, she continued writing and her last novel 'Minding Frankie' was published in 2010.

In the same year she received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards.

She is survived by her husband, writer Gordon Snell.



:-(

I'm sorry to hear of her death,Prickly,I have enjoyed reading her novels.
Thank you for letting us know.

Margot.

Just heard this on the radio and was shocked. Have read everything she wrote and have been a great fan of hers for years. May she rest in peace, she will be a great loss. BC XX <3

A wonderful writer, love her books, how sad to hear of her death, not a great age either.

Heard this on radio,how sad,loved her novels.hearing of so many deaths just lately.

Oh what a shame :-( I've read most of her books I think, she had a great way of weaving together the strands of her stories which seemed effortless but is hard to do.

Just heard and what a loss. She was once reported as saying 'when writing don't use fancy words but use your own voice' Maeve Binchy did that alright .
May she rest in peace

Mau

I've just heard about this - how sad.

Whenever I read one of her books I always hated saying 'goodbye' to the characters. They had almost become friends and I missed them. Maeve was a real story teller and she had the knack of bringing her characters to life.

Her passing will be such a loss to everyone who enjoyed her books. At 72 there should have been so much more for her and many more books for her fans.

Sad.

I've read most of her books and enjoyed them very much. She was a wonderful story teller.

So sad to hear of the death of Maeve Binchey. Read and enjoyed many of hers books. Also enjoyed her interviews on tv. She had that special touch that made you think that she was talking to you., it felt like she was a ggod friend.

Sympathy goes to her family and friends.

My late Margaret had a large collection of Maeve's books that I gave to a battered womens' shelter very recently. I certainly know Maeve's name and I am so sorry to hear of her death.

Although I never read Maeve's books I know that she will be missed by her legion of fans. It's always a sorrowful day when someone who has given so much pleasure to many lives passes away.
Sadly, this has happened all too often in recent days!

Perhaps there are one or two works by Maeve 'in the can' that will be 'finished' by ghost writers. This happened after Catherine Cookson died - Margaret's favourite author, both were born in the same area - when Margaret surprised me and gave up reading them.
She said the finished article lacked Catherine's 'touch'.

This is not surprising as we are individuals and therefore 'unique' - and we put our own 'fingerprint' on our work.

RIP, Maeve.

So sad to hear this news,a wonderful story teller,her books had me enthralled to the last page,no matter what story was being told.
The characters were believable too,and many a time I found myself wishing I lived in a particular village.
Such a loss to the literary world.

RIP.
:-( :-(

I liked her books too, have several of them tucked away for re-reading

May Maeve rest in peace, life's work very well done and she has left a lasting legacy.

Lizx