I am sorry to report that I didn't find the characters in Maeve Binchy's Nights of Rain and Stars to be very interesting or engaging. In fact, the word that kept coming to mind was 'Losers'. I am sure they will all be redeemed by the last page, but I won't be around to see it.
Basically, there are five travelers - three traveling alone and one couple - strangers to one another and all from different countries who find themselves together in a hilltop taverna in the Greek village of Aghia Anna in time to witness the not-very-dramatically-described explosion of a tourist boat that kills twenty-four people including four from the village.
Around the table we have two women who have not made very good romantic choices. One, a confident, smart broadcast journalist, is running away from her choice; the other, the sweet, shy one, is traveling with her choice of lover and before page 60 he winds up in the village jail for assaulting her. One young man is running away from his father's expectations that he will follow in the family business only the son is not enticed by business nor is he motivated by money (although he doesn't seem to mind spending the money his father has made). A fourth fellow, an American professor on sabbatical, has left behind his son, his ex-wife and her new husband.
Yawn.
I was warned by commenter Joyce in KS that this was not one of Ms. Binchy's best. I believe her. This is the first book by this popular author that I have tried and maybe I will give her a second chance. It is one I bought recently at The Village Bookstore in Missouri and I thought I might enjoy it because of the foreign setting. I was wrong.
Anyway, by page 65 I decided I had had enough and now have moved on to reading another find, Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, by my darling P.G. Wodehouse. I need a good laugh after all the angst in Nights of Rain and Stars.
I think Ms. Binchy should have named it Nights of Pain and Stares.
Here are the books I bought at The Village Bookstore on my recent travels to America's Heartland:
Founding Brothers (2000) by Joseph J. Ellis
I sometimes get excited about reading books on American history. Mr. Ellis is coming to the library this month to speak so I was glad to find one of his books and hope to get it read in time to hear him. This book takes a look at seven of the guys who got America going: Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison. All in 250 pages. Not extended biographies but a look at telling events involving each. First up - The Duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) by P.G. Wodehouse
I don't even need to explain this selection. I love Wodehouse!
Nights of Rain and Stars (2004) by Maeve Binchy
I have not read anything by this popular author so I will give this one a try. It is a nice clean hardcover copy. The story takes place on a Greek island and involves travelers to and residents of a small village there.
The Reluctant Tuscan: How I Discovered My Inner Italian (2005) by Phil Doran
This was actually on my ToBeRead List and I was thrilled to find a hardcover edition. The sort of real-life tale I enjoy - Hollywood sitcom writer and producer pulls up stakes and moves to Tuscany.
The Vintage Caper (2009) by Peter Mayle
I have been wanting to read one of Peter Mayle's mysteries. I read earlier this year one of his real-life accounts of his life in Provence. This crime novel involves a wine heist and knowing Mr. Mayle it will be a delight. A nice hardcover edition.
The Witch of Exmoor (1996) by Margaret Drabble
Another author I have not read and I was glad to find this hardcover edition. The story has to do with Frieda, an author and thinker who has run away from home and hearth and lives in a hotel by the sea in Exmoor. She sounds like a woman I would like to get to know.
At this rate, I will need to ask for an extension to summer if I am to get all my reading done. Who, pray tell, is in charge of that?
