A week in winter (by Maeve Binchy)

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I have thoroughly enjoyed re-reading the late Maeve Binchy’s novels over the past eighteen months or so. And in the past few days I have re-read her last novel, ‘A week in winter’, which I first read in 2015. I had, unsurprisingly, forgotten everything about it.

It’s written, as so many of this author’s books were, as a series of interconnected short stories, each one featuring a different character.  The first person we meet is a young woman known to all as Chicky. She grew up on a farm with five siblings, most of whom left as they grew up, to find good jobs. Chicky isn’t an academic, but found quite a good job in a local knitting factory. Until she met Walter, that is…

Walter is a charming American who persuades her to leave her home and family and follow him to America. Her parents are horrified, particularly as they aren’t planning to get married. And at first Chicky loves the new environment… but she sees it as rather more permanent than Walter does. She has to invent a story for her family to explain why he never visits them, and a more drastic one to stop her niece from visiting her...

Eventually Chicky returns to her home town, and buys a run-down house belonging to an elderly lady, which she transforms into a hotel. The next couple of chapters are about different people who are involved in helping her with building work, with planning, and design. We meet Rigger, the son of one of Chicky’s close friends, who has been in all kinds of trouble. And it’s hoped that, by going to Ireland to work with Chicky, he might reform. And we meet Orla, Chicky’s niece, who has a high-powered job but thinks she might give Chicky a year of her time..

As the hotel approaches completion, the staff think of ways to attract visitors. Orla is good with publicity, and people spread the word. But everyone is quite nervous about the first guests. When they arrive, they’re quite a mixed bunch. Some are happy to socialise, to go on long walks, and to praise the excellent food and ambience. Others are quieter. One is a retired headmistress who doesn’t seem to like anything. One pair of mismatched people are a bitter mother with her future daughter-in-law. And there are two married doctors who have seen some tragedies.

All are at the hotel for different reasons; one couple won second prize in a competition, one person was given a voucher as a retiring present. Some are hoping for beautiful views and relaxation, some want to find their roots… and more. Most of the characters are new to this book, although there are brief references to a few people who appeared in earlier books. But they’re minor characters, and it’s not necessary to have read any of her other novels first. 

A chapter at a time, we get to know most of the guests from the first week. They all have secrets in their past, which are explored in the early parts of their chapters. Maeve Binchy had a talent for creating three-dimensional, believable people. She demonstrates in this book how unhappy experiences in childhood can lead to negative attitudes or problems in adulthood, but also makes it clear that each person is responsible for their own behaviour and actions. 

The pace is gentle, with just the right amount of description for my tastes. There’s no real plot as such, other than the overall one of Chicky renovating and starting her hotel. The title of the book refers to one of the proposed attractions of the hotel - a week to relax in winter - but little is made of this. Most of the characters covered are there for the first week. I didn’t always remember who was whom, but it didn’t really matter.

It’s not for everyone, and it’s not my favourite of Binchy’s novels. But ‘A week in winter’ is warm, and encouraging - rather like Chicky’s hotel - and I very much liked re-reading it. Definitely recommended if you like this kind of character-based novel with interwoven stories rather than any real plot.

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