There is Anna, the daughter in charge of planning the anniversary celebration, who is in love with an actor still married to his wife and mother of his sons. There is Brendan who fled England back to the Irish farmland that his father had escaped from. There is Helen, the youngest child, bent on becoming a nun in an order that doesn't even want her. There is Desmond, their father, miserable in a management level of a grocery store chain and their mother, Deirdre, who has always tried to maintain the look of happiness and perfection. And they all come to self-realizations in this novel. There is Deirdre's maid of honor, Maureen, who became a successful business woman, and there is Frank, the best man, who is the head of the grocery store chain. And other characters with a delightful insights written by Maeve.

This book is nice ~~ it's comfort reading, if you will. It is not, by far, her best book. She has a tendency to string her readers along for more juicy tidbits and end it promptly without revealing any more stories. It's frustrating because it leaves all the questions unanswered. So it's not as good as "Circle of Friends" or "Light a Penny Candle" or her others. But still, it is a comforting read.

It is a nice little story of people and friends of a family in England. Though it's not my favorite book, it is still an enjoyable reading.

12-2-03

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:


Bittersweet but beautiful  Aug 02, 1999
Maeve Binchy, in her usual style, introduces us to her characters one-by-one. As we meet each character, their inner thoughts explain their relationships to each other, and to the activities that are happening in each individual's life. This bittersweet tale is very realistic in explaining how and why people act in the strange ways that we all do. As we meet each person, the puzzle comes together and by the end the reader has a complete picture of the event, the thoughts, the preparation, and the cast of the Silver Wedding Party. This beautiful book may encourage us all to realize and respect the reasons for other people's life-choices. We only know part of the story.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


Good, but not one of her best  Jun 29, 1998
This was only my 3rd book by Maeve Binchy, and compared to Evening Class and Echoes, Silver Wedding wasn't near as entertaining. I feel that if Binchy made the novel a bit longer to allow for better character development, Silver Wedding would have been quite a page-turner. However, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and I will continue to read anything Maeve Binchy has in print.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:


Several Mini-Stories Rolled Into One  Feb 05, 2005 By Theresa W
I've just recently started reading Maeve Binchy. Silver Wedding strikes me as one of her more unique stories, one that goes out on a bit of a ledge.

The book is comprised of something like 8 different parts; each with it's own narrator & we get a glimpse into that person's life. We start out with the eldest daughter of the anniversary couple, Anna, and then to her two other siblings- Brenden & Helen. We also read about her parents and their friends. In the final part we see them all reunited for the anniversary party.

The book was not exactly what I was expecting- it wasn't really a very "happy" book. In fact, the stories inside it were quite sad & depressing. I did enjoy though what almost seemed like a book full of mini-stories all coming together at the end. So far it's not my favorite of her's, but I enjoyed it just the same.

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