This story is around the small town of Rossmore (in Ireland) and the religious icon of St. Ann's Well in Whitethorn Woods. This is where the people of the town have prayed for generations as it is thought to have magical, spiritual powers. A highway is planned to be built nearby which would bypass the town, but create a greater volume of traffic passing the township. If the highway goes ahead, it will mean that it will go right through Whitethorn Woods, which in turn will mean that the magical well will need to go. This divides the community as some are opposed to the idea, as they believe in the powers of St Ann while others are for it the highway as they feel that there are no magical, spiritual powers forthcoming from praying at the foot of St Ann. The reader is introduced to the citizens of Rossmore (and their point of view regarding St Ann) by short vignettes about them which quickly describe their character and their stand on the issue of the well. The author, Maeve Binchy, introduces two very different people who are in the same situation, but who view it very differently. Binchy writes about a woman who in her desperation to have a child goes to extreme lengths and decides to kidnap a baby, and then shows the family from whom the infant was stolen ( I found this vignette sad all round). Some of the townspeople’s characters make you laugh, while others annoy you. Overall, a good read and I would read more books by Maeve Binchy. ( )

It's been quite awhile since I read a Maeve Binchy book, but I had this one on my shelf, and I felt the need of some nice cozy fiction during the cold snap we're currently experiencing. It did not take me long to realize how much I enjoy Maeve Binchy's books, even though I haven't read one for a long time. This was like reading a book similar to the television series, Midsomer Murders. Only in this it is a small Irish village called Rossmore that we visit. The characters in the book are truly spectacular. I fell in love with everyone of them, and believe me, there are quite a few recurring characters in this book. The story is woven around the small village, and the possibility of a huge road going in beside their town, and through a famous old well called St. Ann's Well where people have gone for years to have their wishes granted. We meet Brian Flynn, the village curate, and we meet Neddy Nolan, and many others. We find out about their adolescent years as well as their adult lives, and we are part of all the trials and tribulations that each of the families have gone through. Each story has been woven into the fabric of this book to make an utterly believable whole. I was so taken with the book that I am going to read the Maeve Binchy books that I haven't read before. I look forward to this journey because I know I will love everyone as much as I loved this one. ( )

This was more of a book of short stories, and the individual stories are more disjointed than I was hoping or expecting they would be. ( )

This narrative is around the small town of Rossmore (in Ireland) and the religious icon of St. Ann's Well in Whitethorn Woods. This is where the people of the town have prayed for generations as it is thought to have magical, spiritual powers. A highway is planned to be built nearby which would bypass the town, but create a greater volume of traffic passing the township. If the highway goes ahead, it will mean that it will go right through Whitethorn Woods, which in turn will mean that the magical well will need to go. This divides the community as some are opposed to the idea, as they believe in the powers of St Ann while others are for it the highway as they feel that there are no magical, spiritual powers forthcoming from praying at the foot of St Ann. The reader is introduced to the citizens of Rossmore (and their point of view regarding St Ann) by short vignettes about them which quickly describe their character and their stand on the issue of the well. The author, Maeve Binchy, introduces two very different people who are in the same situation, but who view it very differently. Binchy writes about a woman who in her desperation to have a child goes to extreme lengths and decides to kidnap a baby, and then shows the family from whom the infant was stolen ( I found this vignette sad all round). Some of the townspeople’s characters make you laugh, while others annoy you. Overall, a great read and I would read more books by Maeve Binchy. ( )

Gee, I quit on page 59 when, one of my favorite author, who has passed away, recycled a story from a previous novel. I forgive, she was probably getting old like me and did not realize that she had used that storyline before. At the beginning, I loved Neddy, The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer, a man whose family thought that he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, except his father who loved and the woman who married him thought he was the best of all men. Unlike his brother, he saved up mone ( )