This was one of my Mother's favorite authors. I am reading her books in order, and find them enjoyable, easy reads. This one is about a family supported by their tavern in the expectation of major competition when an American returns to renovate his family mansion into a resort hotel.
This book was really interesting, although I enjoy all Maeve Binchy books...she wrote a fascinating story about a group of young people and how they all related to their families and the small community they grew up in there in Ireland. It had a surprising conclusion and although the story is lengthy, it is well worth your time spent reading this book.
wow. this was a great book took me a long time to read it as my life has been busy but I was so glad when I got back to the book it had so many things going on and they were all so realistic it was a heart breaker yet it was very mesmerizing I had to finish it and was very pleased with this one
As a long-time Maeve Binchy reader, FIREFLY SUMMER was in my TBR pile waiting to be read for many years, so I was glad to finally pick it up for a potluck activity in my online book club, The Reading Cove.
Unfortunately, it's downhill from there.
I know to expect a leisurely pace from a 650-page Maeve Binchy book, but this one wasn't leisurely - it was plodding and painfully slow. The narrative felt like it had nowhere to go but all day to get there.
The premise of a handsome American moving to Mountfern and shaking things up should've been engaging, but the characters and sloooow-moving events didn't hold my interest.
So after reading all of Part 1 and some of Part 2, I just had to give up and move on to another book - there are so many waiting for me.
FIREFLY SUMMER was definitely not one of Maeve Binchy's better books, it's a DNF for me. I cannot recommend it. But I do recommend others, like THE GLASS LAKE, CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, TARA ROAD, LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE, and HEART AND SOUL.
