Echoes, by Maeve Binchy, is an unforgettable tale of ambition, betrayal and love.

The story centers around Clare O'Brien and David Power, two friends who have grown up together in a small Irish town. Both dream of escaping to experience more in life, and when the opportunity arises, Clare is the first to grab it, winning a scholarship to University College and leaving David behind.

Years later, fate has thrown them together again, but the spark between them is replaced by suspicion and doubt as secrets, old and new, come to light. As their secrets, secrets threaten to unravel, Clare and David's fortunes will reach a climax as the forces of their ambitious and passionate desires clash in a suspenseful drama.

Maeve Binchy writes with an alluring narrative, combining elements of drama and romance to great effect. Echoes is a masterfully crafted story of long-held dreams, love and loyalty that will draw readers in until the turbulent climax of the novel. A timeless classic.

A classic read from Maeve Binchy, delivering well-rounded characters with relatable and realistic relationships, enough drama to keep you interested without becoming over the top and well realised settings.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A well-written Family Saga set in Ireland. Beautifully written a story that pulls at your heartstrings. Recommended.

This was undoubtedly another perfect read from Maeve Binchy. I am sure I won't be the only person who finds themselves hearing the words within their own head in a lovely Irish accent, something i have always loved about this authors writing style.

The characters were wonderful and likeable from the start, and I found myself really rooting for Clare O'Brien and wanted her to achieve all of her dreams in life. And then of course there is the romance that blossoms throughout, and this certainly didn't disappoint either.

Beautifully written and heart warming, a perfect read!.

Read this book a long time ago, and realized that I had enjoyed some parts of it, where most of it didnt really feel interesting. Set in the 1950 and 60s, this was about Claire and David from two different socioeconomic strata of society.
The story bespoke of Claire's journey to make something of her life. Lots of emotions and feelings made up the book. overall, it was good, but long, read

Another great read from Maeve Binchy. Growing up in early 1960's in Ireland, beautifully described story of young love. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one. I couldn’t get into it and gave up quite early on. Have heard good things about Maeve Binchy so will look up some of her others.

A typical Maeve Binchy novel as you read the first few pages you start to hear the words in a soft lilting Irish accent and this is no different
Revolving around a small costal town it tells each families story from when their youngsters didn’t care who was the richest or poorest they just played together
Then of to the convent for the girls but Clare O’Brien wanted better she wanted to go to secondary school on a scholarship and made it her mission to do that and she said, she also wanted to go to university and she did and that’s when things changed
You can never decide who you will fall in love with or if that love would last a lifetime but Clare would find out soon enough

Oh my goodness! She captures your heart with her words! I was transported to rural Ireland, became a part of the community, and felt all the trimuphs and travails of Clare, Angela, David with my heart!

Maeve Binchy can surely write a story full of emotions and gripping, this one is no exception.
I loved this Irish family saga, the well thought characters and the great storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A good Irish family saga from a well respected author, lots of descriptive writing and the story is a bit long winded at times but worth persevering with as it all comes together in the end. A good read.

Echoes, Maeve Binchy

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: | General Fiction (Adult), Women's Fiction

Bah! Women's Fiction. Its 2020, not 1920 folks, Men write romance, men read romance.
Its years since I read a Binchy book. I'd forgotten how she takes you on a journey through the characters lives. She doesn't just tell a story, she shows the progression of events and the characters growing along with them. I love that, a story where time is measured in years not just days.
We meet Clare and David when they are just children, living in the same town but with Clare's family running a small shop and David's dad being the local gp they are socially well apart. David mum certainly lives up the the Lady of the Manor ideal, she's a real snob, but his father is wonderful to everyone. David being an only child after numerous miscarriages his mum devotes her life to him, and that creates certain pressures.
Clare is wonderful, fiercely intelligent and determined to get educated to the highest point, she has her life mapped out, and with the help of a wonderful schoolteacher Angela she's on her way up.
I loved reading about them growing up., Clare and her family, bickering with her big sister Chrissie, working at her lessons, and then as she's older, taking care of family problems. Angela the schoolteacher, with one face on the surface, and hiding secrets below it. Gerry the town heart throb, he's one of those folk you can't help but like, clever, and also opportunistic, he's got the art of wooing the ladies down pat, but never dates them, its just fun and free with Gerry. He's got hidden depths too.
I really enjoyed the story, the way things unfolded, the way we see behind the doors, to whats really happening. My heart broke for one person, and I was so angry at the [person who did it. Kidding themselves they weren't doing any harm. Yes, of course its all OK. We know fine well that if things were the other way round they wouldn't be. I'm talking in circles here, when you read the story you'll know what I mean.
As well as the good, the bad and the indifferent characters there's one bad seed, one person who'd always out for themselves, not matter who gets hurt in the process. I love a character like that, someone who really doesn't care about the feelings of others, but just takes what they want.
Its a fabulous story, slowly unfolding, revealing hidden secrets, prejudices, ambitions, and of course Love.

Stars: Five, a fabulous slow to unfold novel, letting the characters really shine through, tell the story. Its heartbreaking at times, and a definite reread book.

Arc via netgalley and publishers

I love marvel Binchey. Her characters always come to life in a way only marvel Binchey knows how. However, this book is so long and drawn out - the beginning and end linked together with little going on in the middle. I am so disappointed and struggled to keep going just so that I can understand the beginning of the book. I was 96% through the book before I got to where I wanted to go. Thanks for the opportunity to read this and apologies for the negative review

I've only read a few of Maeve Binchy's books before, but there is always something comforting about them. There's a genuine warmth to the writing that feels like a cosy room on a cold winter's night. "Echoes" is no different to the other Maeve Binchy books I've read in the past in that respect. The story itself is top-notch (unsurprisingly) and is filled with characters that feel so real (again, not a surprise). If you haven't read any of Maeve's work, this is a good place to start.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley a free copy to review. My thanks also to the late Maeve Binchy. This review is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I read this a long time ago, shortly after it was first published, but as I started re-reading, it all started to slowly began to feel familiar as aspects began to come back. Echoes by Maeve Binchy is a wonderful character driven piece of historical fiction that takes us back to the Ireland of the 1950s and 1960s. She paints a picture of small Irish town life of the period, evoked vibrantly by her rich descriptions and details, with a host of characters, many that are eminently unlikeable, with the gossip, class rigidity, prejudices, judgementalism, gender limitations faced by girls and women, the central place, strictness and importance of the Irish Roman Catholic Church within the community, capturing the social norms and attitudes, including the lack of understanding and dismissal of issues such as post-natal depression.

This is the story of working class Claire O'Brien, a shopkeeper's daughter, bright and ambitious, determined to escape her circumstances, helped by teacher, Angela O'Hara, gaining scholarships that take her to Dublin. Then there is David Power, the doctor's son, a David and Claire who break the expectations that they face, and Gerry Doyle, from a similar background as Claire, obsessed by her. Binchy tells the emotive story of lives that are intertwined through the years, the challenges, of love, class, hardships, infidelities, betrayal and tragedy, where the echoes of the past can be hard to shake off. This is a compelling and immersive Irish novel, of a bygone era, of its time and place, aspects of which makes me grateful that the world has moved on, yet retains echoes of a simpler, more straightforward time compared to the complexities and pressures of our contemporary world. This turned out to be an enjoyable re-read! Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for a copy of the book.

Maeve Binchy is one of my favourite authors and I was delighted to get a copy of this book.
This story is about the relationship between Clare and David who grew up in the small town of Castlebay in the 1950’s, the twists and turns of their relationship and the attitude of their parents and peers.
I enjoyed this book, there was some really good characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and for Random House UK, Cornerstone my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first ever Marvel Binchy book. I am a total convert and will be going back to read other books by this author. Beautiful style, detailed character descriptions and extra details to pull you in, all help to creat a book you can’t put down. This real life novel paints a picture in your head, one which most people can relate to- choice, challenges and relationships - life in its most challenging form brought to life on the page. No spoilers here- just an encouragement to pick this book up and read it for yourself.

I read this book years and years ago and so it was lovely to revisit this. A long but enjoyable story of an Irish village and the great characters there

I did not realise that this book was published a long while ago. I had not read it then though have read quite a lot of Maeve Binchy's other books. This is a long book, though the first part was perhaps a little too long, the descriptions of the town and the characters added to the understanding later in the book. A typical story about Irish life in the country and in Dublin in the 50's and 60's. Perhaps a little old fashioned in these times, because the influence of the Catholic church and attitudes in a small town have changed somewhat. In some ways that adds to the charm of the book.
It is not the best story I have read by this author, but the characters are well portrayed and descriptions of the town, the life of the inhabitants and the Irish way of life believable and make for interesting reading. A romantic read with a couple of twists in the tale...
Thankyou to Net Galley for the digital copy in exchange for a review

Absolutely love this author's writing I have read all the books and love to re read them would highly recommend to others,