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Summary: Transformation of a Housewife
Review: The center of this novel is Ria, who presides over the kitchen at 16 Tara Road, cooking bountiful meals for her husband, two children, mother, sister, friends and assorted neighbors and guests. Ria is warm and loving, but hopelessly blind to reality. She believes her life is perfect, even though her beloved husband works late, takes weekends trips without her... and so on and on. Without giving too much away, it's fair to say she gets the shock of her life, and that brings her to greater wisdom and strength. This is a book of how women nurture themselves or others, the choices made to be self-sufficient or dependent, and the consequences faced. The ending was too shallow, I thought, and tried too quickly to wrap up loose ends. But up to that point, I enjoyed this excellent novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Novel
Review: I laughed. I cried. I felt! I loved the characters and was so involved in the story that I missed them once it ended. This is a well-written story that will draw you in and make you feel. I highly recommend it!
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Summary: What book isn't great by Maeve Binch?
Review: Tara Road is one of those sweet yet hard stories, trails of a circle of friends. I loved this book, my sister gave me her copy to read. You'll read this fast, a real page turner. My favorite Maeve book yet!
Rating:
Summary: One of her best works
Review: I have read everything by Maeve Binchy and this is definitely one of my favorites. The chararcters and descriptions are wonderful. I actually sat down and read the entire book in one day becuase it was so entertaining. I laughed and cried and then made my mother read the book, and she loved it just as much as I did.
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Summary: A life lesson
Review: Maeve Binchy has a way with not only story lines but her characters. The reader feels the love and pain each character experiences. Maeve introduces us into Ria's life at a tender age for Ria. The reader experiences Ria's dreams, gets to know her family and meets her first love. Ria's "too good to be true" true love turns out to be just that. Ria's love for Danny clouds her vision from the real world for too many years. I could have read into Ria's life forever. Maeve continues to write novel that capture your heart and sole in other book such as Circle of Friends.
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Summary: Tara Road: Simply a page turner
Review: Tara Road is the second of Binchy's books that I've read. The first was The Copper Beech and although that book encouraged me to read more Binchy, I must say that Tara Road has made me an addict! I'm addicted to Binchy's heart-warming, yet believable Irish settings and characters. From page one I was hooked. I read all 648 pages in 3 days. One minute you want to slap Ria(main character) and the next you want to hug her. The same goes for Gertie, Hilary, Rosemary, Marilyn, and all the others. This is definitely a "chick" book you won't want to put down. The rating lacks one star because the ending is too light-hearted for my tastes.
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Summary: Do you enjoy reading soap operas?
Review: Ms. Binchy is a good story-teller and a "could-be better" writer than what she has shown in this book. I have read quite a few of her previous books and enjoyed The Lilac Bus and Silver Wedding, especially. Unfortunately Ms. Binchy succumbed to the modern-day and, far too prevalent, "paid by the number of words written" syndrome. Having struggled through more than 400 of its 500+ pages, I do plan to finish this book. I'll at least credit Ms. Binchy with her above-average storytelling ability. As she tells her story involving a multitude of characters, she also turns the story into a soap opera: who's having an affair with whom, will the abused wife get away from under her husband's alcoholic rage .... Like any good soap opera, "we want to know"! And like any good soap opera, the stories must go on and on!
Rating: 
Summary: A pot boiler
Review: Lovely packaging, tied up too nicely at the end with a bow. Interesting cast of characters, some of which are woefully underdeveloped. Predictable but enjoyable. Tara Road is a place I'd like to live, but not a reality.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book with a great story line.
Review: Wow is all I can say about this book. It captured me from the start. The characters were amazing. I had put off reading this book for a while because it just didn't seem like a book that I would enjoy, but I was soo wrong on that one.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: This was my second Mauve Binchy novel, having read Light a Penney Candle first. I found this books characters more compelling and liked her writing style in this her more current write. If you are looking for a novel with lots of characters that you can become involved with you will enjoy this one. I llok forward to reading many more of Mauve Binchy's works.
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