Irish Girls About Town: An Anthology of Short Stories

by Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly

Get ready to paint the town green."New York Times" bestselling authors Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes top an impressive roster of the Emerald Isle's most popular women writers as they celebrate the joys and perils of love and the adventure and constancy of female friendships.

In Maeve Binchy's "Carissima," an ex-pat returns to Ireland and shakes things up for her family, who finds her free spirit scandalous. In "Soulmates," by Marian Keyes, one woman's relationship is so bleedin' perfect that it's driving her friends crazy. In Cathy Kelly's "Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Gods," two women on a madcap Stateside road trip encounter a pair of insanely good-looking men....These fabulous stories and a baker's dozen more prove that when it comes to spinning a good yarn, the Irish are the best in the business.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Short Stories, Ireland, Anthologies, Romance, Irish Literature

337 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Anne Maeve Binchy Snell was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers.
She appeared in the US market, featuring on The New York Times Best Seller list and in Oprah's Book Club. Recognised for her "total absence of malice" and generosity to other writers, she finished third in a 2000 poll for World Book Day, ahead of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King.

Reviews

[AJ LeBlanc · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to fun romps through girl power and instead I got 16 stories about how to get a man, why you must have a man, men who suck but you should stay with them because you need a man, why it's OK to be with a married man, ignoring the good man in front of you so you can get trampled over by the jerky man that might call next week, getting out of a relationship with a man so you can immediately start your next relationship with a man, and keeping your man happy so he doesn't leave you. Oh and women who think every man either wants them or is gay, or women who believe that they are completely unworthy of love and deserve to be treated like crap.

Stab me in the eye, please.

So why did I suffer through 16 stories that would make Gloria Steinem cry? A lot of the girls/women had girlfriends who were saying the things that I was thinking. Also, the writing is really good. While I hated the plots, there were lines that were really impressive. 2/10. This one was so not for me. But 2 points for some really great writing, even though I hated what was being written about.

[Donna LaValley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors. She has given me so many pleasant hours of happy reading in my life. Her recent death made me search again for anything else she might have written that I didn't already own, or already have read and passed along to someone else. Happily I did find a few books that she was part of, such as this anthology of short stories about girls or women from Ireland. This is unabashed "chick lit" written by and for the female reader. Most of the stories are about finding love, losing love and dealing with it, recognizing love or ignoring it, and handling the odd husband or male. There is also a story about an unpleasant relationship between female relatives.

Maeve's story was about Nora, the main character in *Evening Classes* (a wonderful student from Sweden introduced me to Binchy and since I was teaching her in an evening class, this was the book she gave me...) Nora returns in Binchy's later books as well. Throughout her writing career, Maeve Binchy wrote so wisely about growing up, finding one's strengths (after accepting one's shortcomings or losses) that it was like listening to a Grandmother you loved tell you stories about her friends in her youth, and all designed to help you understand and love life and other people. As she grew older, her books were even more warm and instructive, as they covered multiple generations and the reader would have the point of view of the mothers and fathers, as well as the grandparents, while the youth tore around trying to find love, career, escape, help, fame, etc.

I've always hate to finish a Binchy book. I want to "live" in whatever community she built, where good people bond together to help one another hold on to goals, deal with misfortunes, and learn to live more fully, overcoming fears, accepting newcomers, and creating a loving, growing circle.

My favorite of her many books if I had to choose would be "Firefly Summer" and probably "Evening Classes"- which starts out a little subdued but becomes hilarious. I have all of them!

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I haven't read all the stories. I adore short stories, and the power they can have, but these just do not carry the weight short stories can.

Basically, they're all like a crappy plot for the next awful romantic comedy. The women are fairly flat characters and the men they so quickly fall for are flat as a board. A writer can accomplish a lot in a few pages, but even when the voice is interesting (like the protagonist in 'lurve gods') the story crumbles when everything is tied up so neatly, so quickly, so absolutely not how life is.

If you want some short reads that are full of fluff - this is perfect. And hey! Some folks like that and that is totally fine. We need fluff sometimes. I just found it hard to stomach.

For a book written by women, I expected more stories about women (you know, women who can talk to each other without relationships being involved all the time) - NOT how women need a man (especially a boringly hunky one), how quickly they can fall in love, and how hard PMS is.

That PMS (PMT) story, by the way, nearly threw me in to a rage fit. If I didn't know it was written by a woman, I would say it had been written by a man imagining what it's like to be a woman.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of sixteen short stories by popular female Irish authors. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Curves by Cathy Kelly 

Becky and Suzanne decide to take a twenty-one day road trip in the United States. Unfortunately, instead of a sports car end up sharing a sports utility vehicle with two good looking guys. 

The Ring Cycle by Martina Devlin

Tara, newly divorced, is trying to figure out what to do with her wedding ring. Everytime she attempts to get rid of the pesty piece of jewelry it comes back to her like a bad penny. 

An Independent Woman by Morag Prunty

Bridie decides to go on a blind date with someone from a want ad in the newspaper. The problem is Birdie is racist and the gentleman happens to be a doctor of ethnic origin. 

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5****

This is a collection of short stories written by Irish female authors. While the stories vary considerably, they are all about love in its many disguises.

A few of the stories feature more mature women … sometimes living lonely lives until they find a way to open their hearts to possibilities … but most deal with younger women and the men they love, or hope to love, or love to hate. There are some very true-to-life girlfriend scenarios (including the “with friends like her, who needs enemies” scene), and some cringe-worthy “looking for love in all the wrong places” stories. And there are stories that renew one’s faith in love and reinforce belief that “love will find a way.”

On the whole, it’s an enjoyable anthology.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short stories. Jumped started my reading block!

[Lizzie Branch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about three main irish authors and their short stories as a woman. The book has other irish authors within the book talking about their personal experiences and how hard it is to be a woman. We cook, clean, have babies, get our hearts broken, and still have many other duties that we have to take care of. This book shows you people who you can relate to. It's a funny girly book, and I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good book to read. This book helps you with your own life experiences and is very entertaining to read!

1) Imagine if you had your heart broken by someone you thought was going to propose, but they broke up with you. How would you react to this event?

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many short story anthologies, some of the stories were good but others didn’t resonate with me.

Most of the stories were fairly light so they were easy reads.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very refreshing

[Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

~Soulmates by Marian Keyes, 2*
~De-Stress by Joan O'Neill, 2*
~The Twenty-Eighth Day by Catherine Berry, 1*
~Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Gods by Cathy Kelly, 2*
~Your Place or Mine? by Gemma O'Connor, 3*
~A Good Catch by Mary Ryan, 2*
~About That Night by Sarah Webb, 2*
~Carissima by Maeve Binchy, 3*

There's no way I'm reading the rest of these stories. What a complete waste of time. The Maeve Binchy was the best but it still made my blood boil, which isn't a great thing before going to sleep.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally choose to read collections of short stories, but after reading this book I have a feeling I'll seek them out more actively. I'd forgotten how easy it is to read stories that begin and conclude within a matter of pages, rather than chapters. I'd forgotten how refreshing - and disconcerting - it can be to have a series of unrelated stories, told from radically different voices together in one book.

I really enjoyed this collection. This is most definitely a collection of short stories by Irish women, for women. The theme of nearly all the tales within its pages are the internal struggles of women to find themselves within themselves, despite the relationships they're in or the men and women who try to hold them back (or alternately, lift them up).

This would make a great book for general reading, or to keep in your purse while running errands where you need to be able to pick up and put down a book regularly. It's also a great opportunity to experience the writing style of several authors that you might not otherwise have heard of.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

only a couple worth the effort of reading - Maeve Binchy's short story, Carissima, of course; a strange, unappealing story by Catherine Dunne called Playing Games (because it's so well written, you're sucked in in spite of your feelings of dread); and Thelma, Louise and the Lurve Gods, by Cathy Kelly, simply because it's so silly it's kind of a relief. The rest of it is drunken desperation or pure bitchiness. Not a recommendation. Go straight to a Binchy book for perfect Irish woman story-telling.

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty much what you might expect it to be: light stories by female Irish authors. They are chicklit, for the most part, some better written than others. A few extend beyond the first-world romance that overloads chicklit and explore more interesting territory.

An easy read, good for the beach or airplane.

[Luv · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had almost forgotten about this book. I remember it being a fun light read

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 16 stories by Irish women authors about Irish women (no, there are few "girls" in these pages) has its share of wit and winsome characters, but it is mostly light fare with a couple of melancholy tales thrown in for good measure. The unifying theme is, however, men: frustrating, disappointing, maddening, irresistible, unmanageable men. What unites all these women is the centrality of their desire for male companionship and romance and the perils implicit in making that quest the centerpiece of one's life. Most of the stories are about younger women, but for my money two that are not--Annie Sparrow's "The Unlovable Woman" and Colette Caddle's "Moving"--are the best stories in this likable but somewhat monochromatic volume.

[Athena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lots of cheesy yet cute love stories in the beginning, but the female characters can be very annoying. They complain a lot for no good reason: "Nobody was looking at me"(Kelly 62). "...it doesn't stop me from wanting to stick a fork in Michael's eye" (Barry 35). I actually wanted to slap many of these characters to get them to shut up. Then I read Mary Ryan's "A Good Catch" in this collection. It starts with a religious girl who was hoping to find a husband. By the title, I thought she was going to find him. Nope. It's about rape, of a virgin woman. So much for relaxing on my porch on a Sunday afternoon!

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro da leggere sotto l’ombrellone, senza impegno ma comunque piacevole.
Si tratta di 16 racconti ambientati in Irlanda negli ultimi decenni del secolo scorso. La maggior parte di questi hanno come tema l’amore, le relazioni e i sentimenti: sono storie di vita quotidiana che inquadrano in maniera chiara ma allo stesso tempo non troppo diretta la cultura e i pregiudizi che l’Irlanda cattolica si è portata dietro fino a non troppi anni fa.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I took this book off my own bookshelf. It is a collection of short stories about Irish girls - about town. I have no idea why I purchased this book. I don't usually enjoy short stories and this is no exception. Each story I read has a main character who is a wayward or "lost" girl finding her way or getting revenge. Also because they are Irish girls, the words are sometimes foreign to me! I stopped reading after a few stories as these stories did not hold my interest.

[Marianne Ramey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a fun read! Several short stories by several female authors. All stories about young Irish women and their empowering journeys to being the woman that they know they are capable of being. The book initially caught my eye, due to Maeve Binchy, an absolute favorite of mine, and I ended up with several more authors that I am now getting to know and reading their books as well!

[Jackie Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a whole, the stories were both feminist and slightly trashy. Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes are two of the better-known authors who contributed to the collection. My favorite story was “Playing Games” by Catharine Dunne. The most interesting thing I learned about the Irish from this book is that women get PMT not PMS. I still don’t know what the T stands for, though.

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. I picked it up years ago thinking it would make a good read for March celebrating Irish female authors. I guess I was hoping the stories would have been more Irish tale and less modern everyday stories involving Irish characters. The stories were well written, and there were definitely a variety of tales, but not what I was hoping for.

[Helen Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteen female Irish writers contributed short stories to this charming book, edited by Maeve Binchy. The stories "run the gamut from provocative to poignant" and although some are better than others, the overall collection is impressive and representative of the situations that modern women face today.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book that was written by Maeve Binchy and fifteen more Irish women authors!
Certainly enjoyed Maeve Binchy's part of this book but then I knew I would as I have already read a lot of her books.

[Katherine Burgess]

It was a day off, so I read my first book for the challenge - Irish Girls about Town. This was an anthology, and all of the short stories were in the Maeve Binchy/Catherine Cookson style. Great way to spend New Year’s Day. Probably 4.5 out of 5. Now to choose #2!

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed in the dregs of winter, a delicious good-hearted break! Lots of captivating characters, well-sketched despite their brief introductions, and some perceptive yet understated insights about our very human foibles and blinkers. Great winter read!

[Dils AB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the short stories are really good and I feel I appreciate it more; reading the short stories of eyebrow raising musings, regrets, revenge, sentimentalities...as a woman in her late 30s compare to how i imagine I would feel reading it in my mid 20s.

[Maureen Neylon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories all with some connection to Ireland. Published in 2002, felt dated. Most revolved around women and love connections, stereotypical (and again, dated) behaviors. A few more relevant and interesting ones but mostly just chick lit.

[Laura Steinert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I were in a book club to discuss this one. I've kept it in my car to read while I wait. Some stories really resonate, some I wish could be explained to me. It really does require thinking about.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

'


very fast read loved all the stories read this book because of maveve binchy but found love along
the way

[Ann Boytim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of short stories - easy reading and entertaining.