Tara Road (by Maeve Binchy)

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I’ve been re-reading some of my collection of Maeve Binchy books, and just finished ‘Tara Road’. It’s a long book - over 600 pages - but I finished it in just a few days. It’s a very engaging story and I found myself caught up with the people, sometimes almost unable to put the book down. I last read this book in 2015 and had only remembered the general storyline, not the people or situations. 

The book opens by mentioning when the main character of the book - Maria, known as Ria - was born, in 1960. She lives in a small town in Ireland, and has just one sister, Hilary, who is a couple of years older. But the story begins a couple of paragraphs later when Ria is sixteen, in the cinema with a boy who wants to kiss her. Ria and Hilary discuss boys and what they might do with them…

Then the action moves to an estate agency where Ria gets her first proper job. There she meets a self-contained, elegant young woman called Rosemary and the two become great friends. Ria is quite humble and expects that everyone will fall for Rosemary rather than her. So it’s quite a surprise when a new employee, the lively and handsome Danny Lynch, is quite taken with Ria…

The style of writing is friendly, somewhat informal at times, drawing out the personalities and quirks of the different main characters. I liked Ria almost immediately, and could empathise with her. She’s constantly surprised at Danny’s friendship and growing love, even though her mother and sister are suspicious.  

The action moves forward; Ria and Danny are married, living in a spacious house in the up-and-coming Tara Road. They both have an eye for antiques and ‘good taste’, and like slowly improving the house, shopping for bargains. Ria is an excellent cook and loves to socialise. Her kitchen is constantly filled with baking, and with friends or family members who pop in.  She and Danny have two children: Annie and Brian. 

It’s something of a saga novel. The first half, approximately, covers Ria’s apparently charmed life as her children grow up. Annie is a somewhat temperamental teenager by the mid-way point of the book, often clashing with her mother. Brian is delightful, always managing to say the wrong thing for the best of motives. I loved Brian’s comments which made me chuckle more than once. 

There are a lot of subplots going on, too. There’s Gertie who runs a launderette and is married to a man who regularly gets drunk and violent. She won’t acknowledge it to anyone, and has created a fiction for her relatives that theirs is a very happy marriage. Then there’s Colm who runs a new restaurant on the corner of Tara Road with his somewhat withdrawn sister Caroline. Nobody knows quite what their relationship is and there are quite a few rumours until a revelation which I had entirely forgotten. 

There are also business threads, but they’re never over-done or too detailed. Danny works for someone called Barney who is a wealthy entrepreneur who sometimes takes huge risks. Barney is married to the quiet, family-oriented Mona, and has a mistress called Polly whom everyone else knows about. Then Annie starts to take an interest in boys, though not as much as her friend Kitty does.

Then there’s a dramatic (though not unexpected) scene, and an announcement which Ria is totally unprepared for. In shock she spontaneously agrees to a two-month house swap with someone in the United States called Marilyn.  And most of the rest of the book covers what happens, both with Marilyn in Tara Road and with Ria in Marilyn’s home. 

I liked the way that these two women are both believable, yet strongly contrasted. Ria is outgoing, and likes to talk to anyone. Marilyn is much more reserved, and even her neighbours barely know her. Each somewhat shakes up the neighbourhood where they are temporarily staying. They also both learn a lot about themselves, and make steps to change. 

I found the pace exactly right, the different stories very engaging, and the writing excellent. There’s minimal bad language and nothing explicit, although there are plenty of hints and references to people’s bedroom activities. I think this would make an excellent introduction to Maeve Binchy’s writing for someone who likes reading long novels, though I don’t think I’d have appreciated it as a teenager. 

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews