Tara Road

A Novel

By: Maeve Binchy

Narrated by: Terry Donnelly

Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.

Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, whom Ria has begun to miss terribly. At the end of the summer, the women at last meet face-to-face. Having learned a great deal, about themselves and about each other, they find that they have become, firmly and forever, good friends.

A moving story rendered with the deft touch of a master artisan, Tara Road is Maeve Binchy at her very best—utterly beautiful, hauntingly unforgettable, entirely original, and wholly enjoyable.©1999 Maeve Binchy; (P)1999 Random House, Inc., Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Her best work yet . . . Tara Road is like a total immersion in a colorful new world, where the last page comes too soon.”—Seattle Times

“An irresistible tale.”—Elle

“Engrossing.”—Wall Street Journal

“A tender novel of the pleasures and pitfalls of friendship Tara Road is an ultramodern love story for women, about women, between women that is sure to delight.”—Newsday

“Difficult to put down!”—Denver Post

“One of Binchy's best.”—Kirkus Reviews

Great book, ending unruly

I loved this book. The narrator, exceptional. The ending too abrupt. After going through so much with these people…don’t we deserve a nice buttoned up (some enjoyment) ending!

loved it. You can always count on Maeve Binchy

Where does Tara Road rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Tara Road is very good.

It would rank a 7 out of 10

Short and Sweet

What a great story about friendship, love, and the merging of cultures. Great narrator voice.

started off good then went flat and predictable

i stuck it out till the end - and it was as I thought about 1/3 of the way through the book. it just seemed to fizzle. not her best.

Abridged!

I have the original hard cover of Tara Road, and this recording is clearly an abbreviated version! Quality of recording and narration is better than the other version offered on Audible, but the story itself is disappointingly reduced.