Friday, July 31, 2009

Quentins by Maeve Binchy

Set in contemporary Dublin, Quentins tells the story of Ella Brady, a young woman who has fallen for The Wrong Man. The tale is both universal and timeless, but this time around there is the added elements of tax fraud, hiding out in Spain and The Mystery of the Laptop Computer. While great parts of this book are highly improbable, unrealistic and unnecessary, this book was a really great read. It isn't the main characters that make it work, but the side characters (there are many, and some from Binchy's previous work) and the setting are so much fun that you don't care about the goofy tax fraud business.
I've never really gotten into the idea that summer reading should always be light and fun, but this book seems to sort of fit that bill. I would recommend this book to readers who are looking for a good story without a lot of heavy elements or objectionable material.
While this book is set in contemporary Dublin, it is a little on the quaint side. Dublin today is multi-ethnic melting pot, warts and all. To read about both Dubliners and immigrants both, I would recommend The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle.

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