Nights of Rain & Stars by Maeve Binchy

A Metheringham Reading Group Review

A feel-good book? Happy endings, but predictable and far-fetched. The characters' problems are strictly of their own making so does that make it harder to identify or sympathise with them? Are we interested in how they resolve their problems? Scene and plot descriptions are light and easy to follow - or dull and predictable!
I liked the description of the son weeping into a large blue handkerchief, homesick and disappointed. I liked the way Binchy told his story at a remove. Both father and son were stubborn and proud, much more like one another than they would admit. The story begins and ends at the taverna, the son's homecoming dance an echo of the dance at the funeral.
Jayne
We gave it a score of 5 for enjoyment and 4½ for the quality of the writing.
Opinions were sharply divided on this book. Those who like Maeve Binchy's work agreed that they prefer her to write about and set her characters in Ireland.