Echoes

By: Maeve Binchy

Narrated by: Kate Binchy

Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

This is the story of two very different children growing up in a small Irish seaside town in the '50s and '60s. Shouting their hearts' desires into the echo cave, praying that their destiny will lead them far away from the town in which they live.

Castlebay, in winter empty and grey with wind and sea spray, becomes all bustle and colour in the gaudy days of summer. The paths of these two characters are destined to criss-cross in a quite unforeseen way, and eventually both roads will lead back to Castlebay.

The end of this long drama of ambition, betrayal, and love is played out in the seaside town where it began, against a backdrop of whispered family gossip and the tangled skein of past friendships.

©1994 Maeve Binchy (P)2009 Audible Ltd

Binchy echoes strongly with real life

Another satisfying Maeve Binchy offering, dealing with class prejudice, education, aspirations, growing up and moral dilemmas seen from the viewpoint of the realistically drawn characters who populate Castlebay. Whilst involving some 'heavy' issues, dealing with traumas such as as post- natal depression, loss of religious vocation the story is leavened, as is usual with Binchy's novels, with light heartedness and humour which make the whole an intelligent and thought provoking read, with memorable and believable characters. As ever, Kate Binchy's narration of the book is a joy and adds pleasure to the whole experience.

Echoes - Set in Ireland! Love The Narrator’s Lilt!

Clare & David grow up in Castlebay, at two different ends of the social spectrum - one the son of the doctor & his superior wife - the other, the daughter of a shopkeeper.

Bursaries allow Clare to escape & we watch their story unravel.

I won’t say more as you will want to listen yourselves!

What I will add is that as a listener, the book should be broken into smaller sections. If you are interrupted you have to rewind, far to far!

Early work and not as tightly plotted as later works.

Hadn't read this story for over 20 years. Remembered enjoying the characterisations then but being disappointed by the drama that unfolded. Well read and entertaining but the flow was spoiled in the last quarter of the book. Unnecessary and perplexing drama which seemed out of character. Still a good listen but not as structured as later books.

Very slow to get in to...

I usually enjoy Maeve Binchy books- and I did, eventually! Too many characters with similar names to keep interest in the story. Started to get better and then.. I won’t spoil the ending!

Nothing Happens

Usually love Binchy’s books but this one was so dull. Performance was brilliant but the story went nowhere.

One of her best!

What made the experience of listening to Echoes the most enjoyable?

This author's work can sometimes be a little bit "soapy" and predictable but this one kept my attention all the way through. In fact the tension actually builds towards the end and I genuinely wanted to know how it would turn out. Who is going to be the body that washes up on the shore?

What about Kate Binchy’s performance did you like?

Kate Binchy did an excellent job when reading this book especially when switching from one voice to another in conversations. Her voice was a little soft and so the audio from my kindle fire HD was a little on the low side but that was solved by using my Bluetooth speakers so not really a problem.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend the book to anyone who likes real life drama. It is certainly worth using a monthly credit to purchase it. Good value, a great story and well read although you might like to speak up a bit next time Kate!

echoes

my first audio book .i loved it
,it was read really well which made it more enjoyable

Good book

I read this book years ago it is lovely to listen to it on audio. How times have changed☺

slow start

struggled to get into this book ,almost gave when the story began .not a riveting read.

POOR

I have tried to listen to this book twice, cannot see what the actual story is about, i love maeve binchy books but this one is the worst , definately