The Copper Beech (by Maeve Binchy)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m slowly re-reading most of my collection of Maeve Binchy novels. I collected them over many years, and some of the older paperbacks (acquired second-hand) are starting to fall to bits. That didn’t stop me from reading ‘The Copper Beech’ over the past couple of days, however. I last read it in 2008 and hadn’t recalled what it was about, or any of the characters in it. It’s over 400 pages long, but I finished it much more quickly than I had expected to.

It’s written in a style that Maeve Binchy did extremely well: that of each long chapter being written from a different viewpoint. It’s essentially the story of a group of students who have attended a Catholic primary school in Ireland, and what happens to them as they grow up. The school has a huge copper-coloured beech tree outside, where generations of students have carved their names or initials.

The first chapter involves a special visit by the Bishop. It introduces the good-hearted Father Gunn, who cares deeply about everyone in his parish. His housekeeper Mrs Kennedy would love to organise the event, but the Bishop is coming to bless the school. So the priest feels that the school staff and children should do the preparations.  And all goes well, until some of the children decide to sample some of the cakes on offer to the visitors…

It’s a great overview of the people whose lives will unfold over the course of the book, shown mainly through the eyes of Father Gunn. There’s Mr and Mrs Kelly, the schoolmaster and his wife; Mr Hayes the solicitor; Dr Jims. There are also some children who are behaving, and some who are not. Maeve Binchy had a gift for describing people in just a few sentences, and by the end of the first chapter, I knew several names and an idea of many of their quirks.

The next chapter focuses on a girl called Madeleine Ross. She was born in 1932, and we see her background, her family, and her general lack of ambition. Maddy is eighteen by the time the Bishop visits, and is startled to be invited to teach at the school. She agrees, as she has nothing else planned, and discovers that she loves teaching. She handles the younger children well, and decides this is where she wants to stay. 

Then she meets a new assistant priest, Father Barry. He doesn’t want to be in small-town Ireland; he longs to work as a missionary in South America. He fund-raises and preaches about the poverty his friends there are experiencing, but never quite feels that he fits in. He and Maddy become friendly; they understand each other, and have a lot to talk about. But then Maddy starts to feel something stronger than friendship…

Most of the rest of the book features children who leave the school together, or their parents. Some go on to other Catholic schools, some have to find work. Some of the children come from comfortable homes, some from large, impoverished families. There’s an awareness of class and disparity of wealth, but the children don’t all understand why some are welcomed in their homes and some are not. 

We meet Maura, from a large, struggling family, who manages to find plenty of work. She is unexpectedly courted by a young man who works at the hotel where she cleans, and things seem to be going well until their baby is born. I liked Maura - well, I did, until later in the book when she becomes a bit manipulative. 

Then there’s Eddie, a likeable boy who is interested in art and nature, and who starts a correspondence with a pen friend called Chris. Eddie assumes that Chris is a boy, and Chris - who is Christine - assumes that Eddie is a girl called Edith. We learn a lot about them both from their correspondence, and I liked them both very much. 

Each lengthy chapter is almost a novella in itself, with a main protagonist and a satisfactory (if not always happy) ending. And yet this isn’t a book of short stories. Each chapter picks up on someone from a previous chapter, and delves into their background, their hopes and dreams, and their lives as they go through the teenage years. 

I found it all compulsive reading. There aren’t too many great shocks, and at times I didn’t recall who some of the minor characters were. But I felt involved in the town, intrigued to know how it would all end. The writing is descriptive without being dull, the people different without being caricatured. There are some illicit liaisons and some criminal activities… but it all feels relaxed, and entirely believable.

The final chapter, set in 1969, sees the closure of the school, after much consultation. Several people are interested in buying it for a variety of purposes. It brings the novel full circle, and the ending is entirely satisfactory. 

Recommended if you like this kind of relaxing women’s fiction without too much action, yet with a lot going on in a small town.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews