The Copper Beech / Evening Class

by Maeve Binchy

Two great best selling novels in one bumper omnibus.

Genres: Fiction

519 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

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

[Teresa Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a Maeve Binchy book some years ago and liked it so I found this omnibus and thought I would give it a try. I have just finished reading the first story, The Copper Beech, which I enjoyed very much. It is a book which focuses on one character at a time in each chapter but all the characters pop up from time to time in the other chapters so that their individual tales become interwoven. There are hints of events in earlier chapters which become clearer in later chapters. This meant that I often flicked back to remind myself of what had happened in those earlier chapters. Being Maeve Binchy it is set in Ireland of course and covers the years between 1950 to 1970, chronicalling the experiences of a group of children from their school days in an Irish village to growing up, marrying and having children of their own. There are also the stories of some of the adults involved with the children. I loved it and am now moving on to the second story in this omnibus.

The second book in this omnibus is Evening Class. I enjoyed the majority of the book but towards the end, particularly the final two chapters, I felt it became a little ridiculous, cliched and even amateurish. The format was similar to the Copper Beech with each chapter focussing on one particular character and each character having a link to all or some of the others. The story this time was about a teacher starting up an Italian evening class at his rather run down school together with an Irish woman who had left Ireland when she was young, to live in Italy and be near the Italian man with whom she had fallen in love but who was promised to another. She had spent many years in Italy, learning the language and the culture and only returned to Ireland upon the death of her love. She needed work and through contacts found the job of Italian evening class teacher. In each chapter you learnt the back story of each character and then their reason for joining the evening class. I found the story a little difficult to follow because each person who joined the class was given an Italianised version of their real name and sometimes they were referred to by one name and at other times by another. Also I don't know what happened to the copywriting/editing towards the end of the book but there were endless grammatical errors. I was rather disappointed with this book, especially having enjoyed the first one so much. I give this book 3.5 stars.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished Copper Beech yesterday. It was okay, but I am realizing that the last couple of books I have ready by Binchy are somewhat formulaic in that each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character in the story, and sometimes I get frustrated because I want all of the characters to be interacting more together in a more traditional format.

[Samriddha Bhattacharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't read The Copper Beech, but read Evening Class and I loved it.

It has a very boho vibe to it.

Strangers meeting at an evening class to learn Italian and even go to Italy on a vacation at the end of the session.

Every character is somehow tied with the other in someway, and has their own reasons for learning the new language. Everyone has their own story and it was beautiful to read about how they were all intertwined.

It also a very positive story I feel. It teaches people to look forward in life, no matter what the circumstances.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read The Copper Beech but read Evening class. The story is set in Ireland. The story is about strangers that become acquainted through an evening Italian class.They all have different backgrounds but Maeve Binchey has a great way of tying all her characters together in the end. Evening class is a fun book to read.

[Tannya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely book. I really like how she develops the characters. At first I was confused because I couldn't establish who the main character was supposed to be. However, that is the point it is a story about many different characters and how they make the whole of the community.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfect book to take on a trip: likable characters, good plotting and an upbeat message.

[Pam Ela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very readable.

[Pam Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't find just the Evening Glass, which is the one I wanted

[Rose Laatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Maeve Binchy. Very enjoyable to read. Stories cleverly interwoven with historical facts. Certainly read more of her books