Dear friend, this is why I love Maeve...
An upcoming festival to celebrate the author asked readers to write a letter about their favourite Binchy book. The entries were funny, sad, poignant – but always full of admiration. Here, we reveal the winner and some of the other top picks
THERE are few writers who encapsulate the spirit of Irish novel-writing like Maeve Binchy. The Dalkey native won a legion of fans across the country and worldwide with her insightful, clever and always witty observations on how people interact with each other.
Now her impact on literature is being celebrated with the inaugural Echoes, which takes place in Dalkey on September 29-30. It will feature talks, walks, debates, interviews and theatrical events, and will trace Maeve’s career from letter-writing to journalism on to becoming an acclaimed author.
As part of the festival, fans were invited to write a letter to a friend about their favourite Maeve Binchy novel or short story. A large volume of heartfelt letters were received from all over the globe and the winner has been announced as Martha Higgins, originally from Sligo, now living in Raheny in Dublin.
Below is Martha’s letter as well as a selection of some of the hundreds of letters received, some happy, some sad, some poignant — but all united in their admiration for Maeve’s work. shattering of sweetness, the hurt and disappointment for Clare when the reality of life took over from the beauty of the earlier days of her relationship. Clare and I had many similarities, both from poor families with several children, both falling in love with the only son of professional parents, both allocated a deluge of hurt, humiliation and heartbreak.
Like Clare, I too was determined to live a life of beauty and grace but instead became initially the bulwark against, and later the cause of all, the disappointments of another person’s life. Clare and I were so very innocent about life and the true qualities of love. I kept picking up the pieces and somehow always managed to find hope by living a part of every day through characters in books. There is always a Caroline Nolan, alluring and clever at finding weak people, all too willing to assuage the disappointing reality of their lives for the promise of what they feel they are entitled to.
Clare helped me to process so much of the reality of life and, like her, I never gave up on the dreams, the beautiful, fanciful dreams of a life to be lived with beauty, grace and, most of all, love.