Maeve Binchy - Light a Penny Candle

The very start of this book begins with the two main characters leaving a coroner’s office, and there are no details of just why they are there.  The story then goes back to many years earlier when the two first met.

The beginning of the story follows exactly the blurb on the back of the cover:  Elizabeth is sent to live with a strange Irish family for the duration of World War II, and forms a strong relationship with Aisling that carries on into their adult lives.  However, once Elizabeth moved back to England when the war ended, I really had no idea where the story was going to go. 

It was an interesting relationship to see develop, between two girls that seemed to be quite opposite in their demeanour and beliefs.  Aisling was a fiery, bold girl who wasn’t afraid to let her emotions be known.  Elizabeth however was very timid and quiet when she first arrived in Kilgarret.  The five years that they lived together they were inseparable.  When Elizabeth returned to England after the war both girls felt a certain loneliness that their best friend was no longer there.  They kept in touch though and each was ready to be there for the other as soon as they needed it.

When they were young they had very specific ideas of what life was going to be like when they grew up, but unfortunately for them both it was not going to be.  Falling in love, getting married, having children; they soon came to realise through their own experiences that these major life event s were not as fairy tale as first thought.  By the end of the book they’d gone through their own relationships but had still ended up together just with each other.

I didn’t feel wholly satisfied with the ending.  The main part of the book flowed nicely as the girls grew up but the last chapter just seemed to come together in a bit of a rush.  Their behaviour also seemed very out of character, I was definitely surprised at some of the situations they found themselves in.

This was Binchy’s first novel so this could have been a factor, I look forward to reading some of her others and seeing how they fare.