Reviews

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy

faithemt's review against another edition

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5.0

how did I NOT read this book until 2021??!! MOST excellent (my cover is different...mine's the pink cover with the lake and green grass on it). Here's the review:
https://goldintheclouds-faith.blogspot.com/2021/05/2021-book-review-16-glass-lake.html

shananananah's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

4.5

I love this book so much! My favourite Binchy I've read. It is quite a long book but I just could not put it down. Was interesting the whole way through。 
4.5 / 5 stars ⭐️

hepalmer's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a re-read, comforting, but still entertaining.

bluestarfish's review against another edition

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3.0

1950s rural Ireland and London are both rather different places from each other but are some of the places the women in this story end up. The McMahon household is visited by tragedy when Kit's mother goes missing. The mother and daughter relationship drives a lot of the narrative but there are a wealth of other women whose stories weave in and out. (There are a lot of ups and downs they have to survive.) Sister Madeleine is a fascinating character among the village and city folk, listening with compassion and not saying too much. It's a lengthy book but a very easy read.

lvoorhies's review against another edition

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4.0

Maeve Binchy is so easy to read. Her books are completely character driven and sweet. They are nice summer afternoon reads, and the taste of the British Isles adds a soft breeze to the reading experience.

jmclincoln's review against another edition

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2.0

I listened to the Recorded Books audio version. Good narration with long pauses. The audio version seemed to take forever.

I had wanted to read a book by Maeve Benchey and was pleased when my reading group chose The Glass Lake. The multi-year story was interesting and the many characters well drawn. However, perhaps because the pacing of the audio version was slow, I had time to ponder what I was listening to in addition to the story. I was surprised a bit more than halfway through to recognize that the most important concern of all the characters was appearances. A lot of time was spent on how people looked, dressed, aged, and worried about these things. The main message seemed to be that if one could maintain a becoming appearance then all should be well and love would be true.

emmeganreads's review against another edition

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5.0

Can't stop thinking about this book, even though I read it years ago.

nattyg's review against another edition

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5.0

While all her books are not filled with racing situations or the hustle and bustle of activities, they are lively and definitely engaging. They are filled with people doing ordinary things and excelling at them.

dvallee's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars

toellethebooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Second Maeve Binchy book I read after Evening Class. I got hooked by her storytelling in that book and just found myself buying more of her works.

I usually hate it when a novel has tons of characters in it but Maeve always has that magic where even though there are numerous characters, she can always keep them in check, and have brilliant character developments at that. This was the same with the Evening Class. Also, her stories always has this sense of community wherein everyone knows about everyone and that makes her works really gossipy yet heartwarming.

One thing I found disappointing is the part about Sister Madeleine. I just felt like the mystery around her should have been unfolded a bit more. I mean, her story did make the entire novel more unique and realistic because almost every community does have someone mysterious and hermitty like her but I felt there could have been more to it, you know?

Anyway, I will definitely read more of her books.