Cross Lines

by Maeve Binchy

This is a collection of short stories by Maeve Binchey.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

64 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 1996

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

[Janeka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maeve Binch doesn’t disappoint with these five short stories on love and friendship. If you want some confort reading done, this will do the work. My favorite was the first one, “Cross Lines”.

[cloudyskye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good old Maeve Binchy who is no longer with us ...
I "met" her through her London Tube stories (Victoria Line - Central Line) and enjoyed them very much. This is a tiny collection of more short stories in her incomparable style. Like literary comfort food, snack size. ;)

[R.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really much into this genre, but I always make an exception for Maeve Binchy. I love her writting style and although I find many flaws on her plots, I still feel fairly attracted to her books. Stories which could feel quite "cheap" and "superficial" if written by other authors, gain more credibility and are coated by a certain magic when written by Maeve Binchy. Maybe it's not high literature, but her books are much better than other "fluffy" reads, way above other so called "chick-lits" and definitely something to turn into when in need of a comfortable read. She had an amazing ability to warm the reader's heart and create feelings of affection and involvement for her -sometimes silly- characters.

Those elements are not so obvious in this small book, mostly because it consists of very short stories, so there is no room to develop the characters and the plot as extensively as with a complete novel. Characters appear a bit two-dimensional and the plot twists are somehow unconvincing, so the book features sort of a too simplistic vibe around it. Still, those short stories are absolutely fine and decent enough to pass some time. And their characters/themes could serve as seeds to produce a full book or two. Such a pity Maeve is no longer among us, the world could do with some of her magic...

[Erica Smythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, easy read of 5 short stories.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...

This is a Phoenix 60p containing 5 enjoyable short stories by Binchy:

Cross Lines
Package Tour
The Consultant Aunt
The Apprenticeship
Excitement

[penelopewanders]

Perhaps I should add a label for "anthology", although I am not usually into short stories (with some notable exceptions). This tiny book is winging round and round the world, and I finally thought it was time to join the bookring. Several decades ago I had a big Maeve Binchy phase, buying and devouring most of her books that I found available. At some point, for no particular reason, I moved on. It was lovely hearing this writer's voice again, even if I would have liked most of the stories to continue. Some I liked better than others, but they all successfully created a mood and evoked strong characters (or sometimes weak characters in strong lines). This will travel on soon.