Maeve Binchy

Author Information
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  • Bibliography:
    38 Books
  • First Book:
    January 1982
  • Latest Book:
    May 2016
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About the Author

Maeve Binchy was born on 28 May 1940 in Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland, the eldest child of four. She studied at University College Dublin and was a teacher for a while. She also loved travelling and this was how she found her niche as a writer. She liked going to all different kinds of places such as a Kibbutz in Israel and worked in a camp in the United States. It was whilst she was away that she sent letters home to her parents. They were so impressed with these chatty letters from all over the world that they decided to send them to a newspaper. They were published. She left teaching and became a journalist. She still writes columns today.

Maeve married Gordon Snell who is also a published writer. When they were struggling financially it was then that Light a Penny Candle was published. She became an overnight success. Some of her later novels have been brought forward to the present day to become more modern. Her cousin Dan Binchy is also a published writer.

Multi-Author Series List

Fairytale Retellings: Snow White

Ride on Rapunzel (May-1993)

Fairytale Retellings: Cinderella

Ride on Rapunzel (May-1993)

Book List in Order: 38 titles

  • Dublin 4

    • / Contemporary Romance
    • Buy Buy

    A society hostess entertains her husband''s mistress to dinner; a country girl savours the delights of city life; a student faces the dilemma of unmarried pregnancy; and a drink-ridden photographer tries to relaunch a shattered career...

    This ...

  • Light a Penny Candle

    • / Contemporary Romance
    • Buy Buy

    LINKED BY AN UNBREAKABLE BOND... Elizabeth White, shy child of a troubled English marriage. Aisling O'Connor, bold daughter of a roistering Irish family. War threw them together. Peace sent them on their separate ways. But from the moment ...

  • London Transports

    Whether it's the sudden snapping of bonds between lovers or shopping on Oxford Street, Maeve Binchy finds the unexpected truth in experiences so real that every woman will recognize them. Filled with her delicious humor and warmth, the twenty-two sto...

  • The Lilac Bus

    • / Contemporary Romance
    • Buy Buy

    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 t...

  • Echoes

    Even at fifteen, David Power knew the echo would answer eleven-year-old Clare O'Brien's dearest wish, to win a coveted school prize. But it was years before Dr. Power's cherished only son saw in the huckster's daughter the answer to h...

  • Firefly Summer

    IT WAS A SUMMER OF WARMTH ... Kate Ryan and her husband, John, have a rollicking pub in the Irish village of Mountfern ... lovely twelve-year-old twins ...and such wonderful dreams ... IT WAS A SUMMER OF INNOCENCE ... But all that is about to ch...

  • Silver Wedding

    An occasion to celebrate, when Desmond and Deirdre Doyle must gather family and friends around them in remembrance of the twenty-five years of marriage they've shared. A moment of reckoning as an uneasy couple is forced to face a hapless daughter st...

  • Circle of Friends

    It began with Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, growing up, inseparable, in the village of Knockglen. Benny -- the only child, yearning to break free from her adoring parents...Eve -- the orphaned offspring of a convent handyman and a rebellious blueblood,...

  • The Copper Beech

    In the Irish town of Shancarrig, the young people carve their initials -- and those of their loves - -into the copper beech tree in front of the schoolhouse. But not even Father Gunn, the parish priest, who knows most of what goes on behind Shancarri...



  • Ride on Rapunzel

    Fairytale Retellings: Cinderella
    Fairytale Retellings: Snow White

  • Victoria Line Central Line

    Every day, millions of people travel on London’s Underground, yet everyday life is not nearly as mundane as we think. At Notting Hill, the secretary, harbouring her secrets travels to work; at Highbury and Islington, Adam has a sudden change of hea...

  • The Glass Lake

    Kit MacMahon, growing up in the lakeside village of Loughshee, seems to lead a charmed life. She is the loved daughter of Martin MacMahon, the kindly local pharmacist, and Helen, his beautiful wife. She has a little brother, Emmett; a best friend, ...

  • This Year It Will Be Different

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends and The Glass Lake comes This Year It Will Be Different, a stunning new work that brings us the magic and spirit of Christmas in fifteen stories filled with Maeve Binchy's trademark wit,...

  • Evening Class

    It was the quiet ones you had to watch. That's where the real passion was lurking. They came together at Mountainview College, a down-at-the-heels secondary school on the seamy side of Dublin, to take a course in Italian. It was Latin teacher Aidan ...

  • The Return Journey

    A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip...An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors...A pair of star-crossed travelers ta...

  • Tara Road

    New York Times bestselling author Maeve Binchy has captured the hearts of millions with her unforgettable novels. Binchy's graceful storytelling and wise compassion have earned her the devotion of fans worldwide -- and made her one of the most be...

  • Ladies' Night at Finbar's Hotel

    A year has passed since the closing of Finbar's Hotel, a down-on-its-heels hotel on the Dublin quays. Now, with a rock star as its new owner, it has once more opened its doors-and Finbar's has become an ultra-chic gathering spot. Ladies' Night at Fin...

  • Scarlet Feather

    Two friends struggle to balance their personal and professional lives in this charming novel from acclaimed author Maeve Binchy.They met in cooking school and became fast friends with a common dream. Now Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather hope to take Dub...

  • The Builders

    Original short fiction by a beloved best-selling author on her best topic relationships. Charming novella from a masterful writer on the power of family secrets. Nan Ryan lives by herself at 14 Chestnut Road. When builders arrive to fix a deserted ho...



  • Quentins

    Is it possible to tell the story of a generation and a city through the history of a restaurant? Ella Brady thinks so. She wants to film a documentary about Quentins that will capture the spirit of Dublin from the 1970s to the present day. After all,...

  • Carissima

    in Irish Girls About Town

    An enchanting, heartwarming anthology of sixteen short stories about family, friendship, and love features contributions from such popular Irish women authors as Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly, Colette Caddle, Morag Prunty, Julie Parsons, Jo...

  • Nights of Rain and Stars

    In a tiny Greek village, tourists enter a hilltop tavern, alone and in pairs, for a casual lunch. But a sudden tragedy in the harbor below causes these perfect strangers to become unlikely friends as their lives begin to entwine. Fiona left her nu...

  • Deeply Regretted By...

    Deeply Regretted By . . ., Maeve Binchy's classic television play, is a moving and powerful account of a tragedy affecting a woman in London who discovers, on the death of her 'husband', that their married life was a lie.When shown on RTÉ Television...

  • Star Sullivan

    This novel follows the story of Oona 'Star' Sullivan, a sweet and considerate girl who wants nothing more than for everybody in her family to be happy - until that is, the boy next door moves in and everyone starts worrying about her....

  • Whitethorn Woods

    When a new highway threatens to bypass the town of Rossmore and cut through Whitethorn Woods, everyone has a passionate opinion about whether the town will benefit or suffer. But young Father Flynn is most concerned with the fate of St. Ann's Wel...

  • The Maeve Binchy's Writers' Club

  • Echo's

  • The Garden Party and Other Stories

    A collection of short stories from the Archives read for Radio 4, by best-selling author Maeve Binchy. Stories included are: The Garden Party read by Niamh Cusack; The Special Sale read by Dervla Kirwan; The Sensible Celebration read by Doreen Hepbur...

  • Heart and Soul

    A story of patients and staff, family, and friends who are part of a heart clinic in a community caught between the old Ireland and the new. Dr. Clara Casey agrees to take on the thankless task of establishing a clinic with little funding for one ye...



  • Minding Frankie

    When Noel learns that his terminally ill former flame is pregnant, he reluctantly agrees to take care of the baby girl. With the help of a caring network of friends, family and neighbors -- including Lisa, his broken-hearted classmate, and Emily, his...

  • A Week in Summer

    After many happy years of marriage and raising a family, Brian and Kathleen suddenly find themselves a bit lost in life. Midwesterners who’ve never traveled, Kathleen decides that what she and Brian need is a vacation, and with the help of an enthu...

  • Full House

    A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Original Selection They hadn’t intended it to be a full house. Dee and Liam had thought that their children would leave home one by one and come to see them on weekends. Wouldn’t that be nice? But Helen...

  • A Week in Winter

    Maeve Binchy returns with a cast of characters you will never forget when they all spend a winter week together on holiday at Stone House, a restful inn by the sea... Stoneyville is a small town on the coast of Ireland where all the families know...

  • Chestnut Street

    Maeve Binchy imagined a street in Dublin with many characters coming and going, and every once in a while she would write about one of these people. She would then put it in a drawer; “for the future,” she would say. The future is now. Across ...

  • Maeve's Times

    Five decades of selected writings from the Irish Times by the beloved and best-selling author, filled with her hallmark humor, candor, and wisdom-a timeless gift to her legion of fans. Maeve Binchy once confessed: "As someone who fell off a ch...

  • Dusty's Winter

    Dusty grows up caring for her family, and, once she is old enough to organize her own affairs, she takes great care to move out of her parents’ home. Soon, Dusty is able to accomplish a great deal: she works long hours and is made senior partner at...

  • A Few of the Girls: Stories

    From Maeve Binchy’s earliest writings to the most recent, her work is filled with wisdom and common sense and also a sharp, often witty voice that is insightful and reaches out to her readers around the world and of all ages. Whether it is one of h...

  • The September Letters

    A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Original SelectionIt starts out like any other dull day in a busy airport bar. James, the bartender, would much rather serve regulars at a local pub than cranky travelers. Katy and Colin have been involved in ...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Maeve Binchy has published 38 books.

Maeve Binchy does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, The September Letters, was published in May 2016.

The first book by Maeve Binchy, Dublin 4, was published in January 1982.

No. Maeve Binchy does not write books in series.
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