Helpful Score: 5
Maeve Binchy writes wonderful stories about real people...the kind you want to meet or already know. They have their quirks, problems, hopes and dreams. The people who ride the lilac bus are all searching for something, some find what they're looking for, some don't have a clue. The bonus section, Dublin 4 tells the stories of four people and how they handle the most difficult times of their lives.
Helpful Score: 4
Usually I love Maeve Binchy, but I felt as if this book was unfinished. She had several wonderful stories going on here, but she just quit. I wonder what went on! Also included in this copy are "Dublin 4" tales. I felt they were also unfinished.
Helpful Score: 3
I was disappointed in this book - the first one to be that way for me. The stories left me hanging...meaning I needed more closure on each one. I love her writing style but this just left me wanting to know more about things ended up for the characters. Please NOTE: This book has a book and 4 short stories in it. I had no idea of that.
Helpful Score: 1
"Maeve Binchy novels are about ordinary people who have the sort of problems that most people have. Her characters are often working class people who have money worries, problematic personal relationships, and frequently work in dead-end jobs.
In "The Lilac Bus," 7 people who live and work in Dublin, take the lilac bus owned and driven by Tom Fitzgerald, back home to the village of Rathdoon. They arrive late every Friday night and return to Dublin--to their jobs--on Sunday nights. To the other villagers, it's somewhat of a puzzle why anyone who could spend a weekend in Dublin, would choose to come home every single weekend. "The Lilac Bus" is a series of short stories which solve the puzzle of the bus passengers' individual desire or obligation to return to Rathdoon. Each passenger has a unique story, and yet somehow the stories are connecting too.
Following the 8 stories about the bus passengers, Bicnhy gives the reader four additional short stories about Dubliners..." amazon
In "The Lilac Bus," 7 people who live and work in Dublin, take the lilac bus owned and driven by Tom Fitzgerald, back home to the village of Rathdoon. They arrive late every Friday night and return to Dublin--to their jobs--on Sunday nights. To the other villagers, it's somewhat of a puzzle why anyone who could spend a weekend in Dublin, would choose to come home every single weekend. "The Lilac Bus" is a series of short stories which solve the puzzle of the bus passengers' individual desire or obligation to return to Rathdoon. Each passenger has a unique story, and yet somehow the stories are connecting too.
Following the 8 stories about the bus passengers, Bicnhy gives the reader four additional short stories about Dubliners..." amazon
Helpful Score: 1
Read this awhile ago...always enjoy Maeve Binchy's books!
Helpful Score: 1
Every Friday night young Tom Fitzgerals's lilac colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter Mikey Burns, who plays the buffoon while his brother makes a fortune in the family business, to the rich doctors daughter Dee Burke, who is having a secret affain with a married man.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a collection of wonderful stories. Binchy is a master storyteller and captures people's lives perfectly. I loved her other books, so I read the Lilac Bus and I was not disappointed. If you like good storytelling, easy-to-relate-to characters, Ireland and beautiful language, this is the book for you.
Helpful Score: 1
This book contains The Lilac Bus and the Dublin 4 stories. The Lilac Bus is the chosen means of transportation for a group of individuals who travel home from Dublin every weekend. Each person has his or her unique personality and fears/hopes/foibles, and a chapter is devoted to each one's story which overlaps one or more of the other passengers' stories. The Dublin 4 is (as you might expect) a series of four stories about people living in Dublin. Although I don't usually read short stories, I enjoyed everything in this book and highly recommend it!
Helpful Score: 1
Wonderful book about a cast of real characters that ride "The Lilac Bus" home every weekend. Maeve Binchy gives you an overview of each life and then delves into their personal story. Lovely!!
This is a bonus book with 4 other stories that stand on their own.
This is a bonus book with 4 other stories that stand on their own.
Laughter and tears set in the Irish country town.
Maeve Binchy weaves a world that draws you in immediately. I'm always sorry to say goodbye to the people in that world and this book is no exception. A wonderful book.
I love Binchy's storytelling.
Tales of Irish village life and the eight commuters who ride the Lilac bus. Very warm and enjoyable read.
Every weekend the Lilac Bus takes a group of people from Dublin to their small town and the lives they lead there. This one portrays all of the bus travelers as individuals and as they interact.
A story about the lives of several people who ride the lilac bus home every weekend. Interesting!
I enjoyed all the characters and how they interacted.
A Maeve Binchy novel about the people and scandals in an Irish town. I always love her books.
Love this author, this is another great story from her
A collection of short stories by a true Irish storyteller.
Maeve Binchy = terrific author. Enough said
A set of interconnecting short stories, very interesting.
Every Friday night young Tom Fitzgerald's lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the jobking bank porter, Mikey Burns, who plays the buffoon while his brother makes a fortune in the family business, to the rich doctor's daughter, Dee Burke, who is having a secret affair with a married man, have their reasons for making the journey.
Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when Tom's bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them...as each of their very private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women. There is a bonus in this edition of The Lilac Bus - Maeve Binchy's Dublin 4 Tales...
Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when Tom's bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them...as each of their very private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women. There is a bonus in this edition of The Lilac Bus - Maeve Binchy's Dublin 4 Tales...
This is actually a shorter book with 4 stories at the end. The main story is good, the 4 end ones are a little wierd.
The Journey... Every Friday night a lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter to the rich doctor's daughter, have their reasons for making the journey.
The Destination...Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when the bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them...as each of their private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on...
The Destination...Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when the bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them...as each of their private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on...
I love Maeve Binchy's books but this one left me hanging and wanting to know what happened to all the characters that she introduced us to. Her characterization is always excellent as she really seems to know much about different personalities. I would really call this a book of short stories about people who are related through riding the lilac bus. I will however forgive her as I'm looking forward to reading more of her novels and really do miss her now that she is gone.
A collection of eight interwoven tales, brimming with wit and laughter. The people who travel on the Lilac Bus lead separate lives in Dublin during the week, but are thrown together at the weekend for the journey home to Rathdoon. Thei paths begin to cross in an unexpected and intriguing way...
In these stories, Maeve Binchy uses deft touches and humour to point to the goodness and folly of human nature.
In these stories, Maeve Binchy uses deft touches and humour to point to the goodness and folly of human nature.
