Rating: 
Summary: Offers great look into the lives of children in a small town
Review: This book offers a wonderful look into the lives of Maura, Eddie, Leo, Foxy, Nessa, Niall, and their families and friends as they grow from young children to mature adults with families of their own. Binchy goes into the lives of their parents, and the events that make all of them the way they are and do the things they end up doing. All of the characters' stories center around the copper beech tree in the schoolyard, where the children spend their formative years. The author magically creates an entire town based on the glimpses into the worlds of a few of the major characters, and during the time you are reading the book, you will be sucked into the lives of its people.I greatly enjoyed this book. I gave the book 4 stars because it did not quite approach the magic of Binchy's book, "The Glass Lake", although it came very close. The format of the book might not be popular with those that felt her most recent book, Quentin's, was too superficial, as each chapter in this book deals with a different character and what is going on their lives, in a similar fashion to the aforementioned title. However, all of the characters in this book interact in different ways, and it is wonderful to see how the actions of some are perceived by others. It serves as a great reminder that what goes on behind the scenes is frequently different from the story told by appearances.
Rating: 
Summary: a good vacation book
Review: This book will keep you satified if you're a Binchy fan!
Rating:
Summary: Good vignettes
Review: This vignette-style novel presents the lives of eight people who carved their names, as children, in the copper beech tree in the small Irish town of Shancarrig. It was an interesting way to present these people's lives and the reader saw the life of the town through each person's eyes as well. We see that often, not all is as it appears, that those who seem to have it made really don't. Binchey allows us to see the daily struggles that occur in each person's life. The storylines criss-cross throughout the book and present a fairly complete picture of the years during which the stories occur and of the characters. While not as sweet as some of Binchey's other books, I still felt that I got to know and care about the well-developed characters.
| 
