This Year It will be Different

Product Description 'There's nobody like Binchy for warming the cockles, and this collection of Christmas stories warms them to white heat' Kate Saunders, The TimesChristmas: a time of year when emotions run high and long-held secrets can unexpectedly surface...This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evokes the lives of wives, husbands, children, friends and lovers. As the festivities take hold, there are step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman and his wife; a child caught up in a grown-up tug-of-war.'We are all in her pages, all of us: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, husbands, wives, children, friends, lovers ... It is this combination of Maeve's understanding of what it is to be human, and how to cope with life, that makes her so popular' Veronica Henry, bestselling author of Christmas at the Beach Hut Review There's nobody like Binchy for warming the cockles, and this collection of Christmas stories warms them to white heat. -- Kate Saunders ― THE TIMES With her gift for effortless characterisation and homely detail, she evokes power shifts in families, unwelcome discoveries, conspiracies, affairs, forgiveness, sorrow and the rebirth of optimism with her usual warmth and sympathy. -- Elizabeth Buchan ― SUNDAY TIMES Brilliant, family-oriented short stories ... Binchy fans will love it - i did! 5/5 ― WOMAN'S OWN We are all in her pages, all of us: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, husbands, wives, children, friends, lovers ... It is this combination of Maeve's understanding of what it is to be human, and how to cope with life, that makes her so popular -- Veronica Henry A master storyteller -- Marian Keyes Her storytelling ability is second to none ― SUNDAY EXPRESS You can see why, for a legion of female readers, Maeve Binchy is a one-woman opiate of the people ― EVENING STANDARD Book Description Christmas tales from the world's favourite storyteller - perfect for the festive season. With an introduction from bestselling author Veronica Henry, author of Christmas at the Beach Hut. From the Back Cover THIS YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENTand other storiesChristmas: a time of year when emotions run high and long-held secrets can unexpectedly surface...This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evokes the lives of wives, husbands, children, friends and lovers. As the festivities take hold, there are step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman and his wife; a child caught up in a grown-up tug-of-war.'With her gift for effortless characterisation . . . she evokes power shifts in families, unwelcome discoveries, conspiracies, affairs, forgiveness, sorrow and the rebirth of optimism with her usual warmth and sympathy' Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Timeswww.maevebinchy.comSOME OF THE STORIES WERE PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED IN THE RETURN JOURNEY About the Author Maeve Binchy was born in County Dublin and educated at the Holy Child convent in Killiney and at University College, Dublin. After a spell as a teacher she joined the Irish Times. Her first novel, Light a Penny Candle, was published in 1982 and she went on to write over twenty books, all of them bestsellers. Several have been adapted for cinema and television, most notably Circle of Friends and Tara Road. Maeve Binchy received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Book Awards in 1999 and the Irish PEN/A.T. Cross award in 2007. In 2010 she was presented with the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards by the President of Ireland. She was married to the writer and broadcaster Gordon Snell for 35 years, and died in 2012. Visit her website at www.maevebinchy.com