Maeve's Times: In Her Own Words

Binchy became a staff writer at The Irish Times in 1968 and contributed columns until shortly before her death in 2012. This posthumous collection, edited by Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle, contains columns from throughout Binchy's tenure at the newspaper, including her very first and last articles. In addition to frequently being laugh-out-loud funny, Binchy's columns offer insight into 20th-century Irish and British culture as it related to the status of women. Many columns recount Binchy's extensive travels, including the summers she spent on an Israeli kibbutz. The majority of columns have aged well. Readers of Binchy's novels will be glad to encounter more of the writer's droll wit and deft characterizations. Binchy's husband, Gordon Snell, provides a warm introduction that is an attraction in itself. Actress Kate Binchy, Maeve's cousin, captures the author's tone perfectly, making this work the very definition of a comfort listen.