Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable and easy to relate to!
Review: I have been a fan of Maeve Binchy since I saw the film Circle of Friends in 1995. I had to read the book and was amazed that I enjoyed the novel even more than the film.Her books have rich detail, great story lines (which often interconnect, realistic and humorous dialogue. I had enjoyed her earlier novels whoch deal with young girls coming of age in 1950s rural Ireland. When she switched to more adult books (Evening Class, Tara Road) I wondered how I would like them. They are every bit as enjoyable and this is no exception. Scarlet Feather is entertaining, the characters are likable and have true depth. I enjoyed that the each chapter is a month in the first year of a fledging catering business. This story is told with more subtlety than some of her other novels and is wonderful. I couldn't put it down and I was sorry when it ended and hope that the story of Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet continues in the future
Rating:
Summary: Comforting And Warm
Review: It is with regret that Maeve Binchy is saying farewell to us at this time.....her poor beloved readers. I've read most of her books and especially loved Circle of Friends and Tara Road prior to Scarlet Feather.
Scarlet Feather is a wonderful tale which starts from one New Year's Eve to the following New Year's Eve. Centering around the catering company of Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet we are placed into contact with the entire world of these two, as well as their families. Some are eccentric...some lovable, but all in all the characters fill you with a total warmness and the storyline maintains a sense of regained hope almost like light at the end of the tunnel.
You will meet Cathy Scarlet's husband Neil, an activist lawyer who works consistently for the underdog; Marcella who is Tom's beautiful girlfriend, a model; Maud and Simon, Neil's two neglected cousins and others from Cathy's side of the family.
This book is an ideal gift for any ocasion and should be devoured by all of Ms.Binchy's fans....and we know that they are all over the globe. Highly reccommened!! Nutface
February 4th, 2002
Rating: 
Summary: A nice story, again
Review: Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather met in catering school and, apart from being good friends, share a dream: owning their own catering business. On one New Year's Eve, Tom happens on the perfect location. And so begins their first year as entrepreneurs. Binchy, renown for her character development, presents her readers with a full serving of interesting people, some new and some you will remember from previous novels. What I do find about her books, however, is that they are all very similar. The cast is interesting and you do get attached to them, the pace is good, but they read like a good soap opera that has very low-level drama. I for one would like to see Binchy try something different. If you are a devoted Binchy fan, or are looking for a nice, well-written story, then pick up this book, curl up in your favourite chair with a cup of tea, and enjoy. If you are ambivalent about her previous works, then you should pass on this one, as it is a continuation of her last novels.
Rating:
Summary: The Scarlet Feather
Review: Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy is a fictional novel about several interesting characters. It is a superb combination of real life struggles and humor. Two long-time friends, Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, share the same dream to have their own catering business. They hope to provide their hometown, Dublin, Ireland, with delicious gourmet food. One New Year's Eve night Tom happens to stumble on the perfect place for their establishment. They excitedly purchase it and start their business. Tom and Cathy are surrounded by loveable family and friends that enhance the story line. In the following months, Tom and Cathy face financial difficulties with their company and personal problems involving family and their significant others.
The problems and triumphs that the characters experience make them seem more realistic. The author writes with omniscience, which gives the reader insight into the characters' minds. The setting in the quiet town of Dublin seems restful but is, in fact, the opposite. The characters' lives are hectic and complex. The overall theme of the book is about surviving difficulties and coming out of them a better person.
In general the book was charming and hard to put down. The many characters made it hard to be bored by a certain person. The book may have been a little too detailed causing it to be long and at times slow. A couple of characters such as Amanda Mitchell and Shona Burke were not developed enough. It was frustrating when some questions, such as, the mystery of their premises were never answered. The novel could have been improved but was generally enjoyable
Rating:
Summary: My first Maeve Binchy book, but not my last
Review: I'd never read any Maeve Binchy until I picked up Scarlet Feather, so I had no comparisons to make to her previous novels. In a way, I think this gives you the best feeling for an author (or book) because you have no prior expectations. The book was a pleasurable read and led me to buy 'Evening Class' - so I'm going backwards! Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather are catering partners in Dublin. Cathy is married to a civil liberties lawyer, who is totally involved with his professional life, and Tom is living with a young whimsy who will do anything to break into modelling. Clearly from the outset, these relationships are headed for disaster. It doesn't help that Cathy's mother was house cleaner to her husbands snobbish family. Scarlet Feather is a character-driven book, since the 'plot' is not at all substantial. Nothing wrong with that, so long as you're an expert at characterization, and Maeve Binchy is certainly that. She seems to be an author who can carry off a large cast without screwing up the story line. For me, Cathy's husband's young cousins stole the show. Their parents are being evaluated by social services - none too soon, you may feel. Eight year olds, Simon and Maud, start off as little horrors who are terribly serious and take everything literally. This leads to entertaining plot twists. The BIG underlying question is whether Cathy and Tom will get it together. Everyone else thinks they should, but they remain loyal to their partners. Or do they? For an easy, captivating read, I can recommend Scarlet Feather. As I say, it prompted me to go out and buy more from the same author.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Time!
Review: I don't know why I bought Scarlet Feather in the first place, but something about it must have caught my attention. I am so very glad that I did buy it, though! It is a long book, but definitely worth the time it takes to read it. I only put the book down when I ABSOLUTELY had to. Maeve Binchy has a wonderful way of weaving you into the character's lives, and that's what makes the book so wonderful. Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet are old friends from catering school. They have decided that they want to start a catering business with their own flair and personal touches. The book takes you over one year...from their finding the premises to their one year anniversary as a company. All of the character's lives are intertwined somehow and you just want to know more and more about them. They all have their own little quirks...some good and some just awful. It will make you laugh, cry, and probably scream at the injustice, but it really is a great read. This book just really makes you root for the underdog.
Rating:
Summary: Completely engrossing
Review: I started this book on a Monday and finished it Tuesday..all 600 pages.
I have only ever read Circle of Friends out of curiousity as a fan of the film and enjoyed it well enough.
But Scarlet Feather was different, Maeve Binchy is excelent at her characters, I found every single character in this book real, and marvelous, even the bad ones had some redeming qualities.
As a confirmed fantasy and classics reader I don't read a lot of contempory fiction but I have to say this book as well as Circle were a complete delight. Everyone is so real and human it is marvelous to have such a writer and I plan to read more of her books. I can't judge this to any other of her books except Circle. And since I found this book even more wonderful than that I have to disagree, with my limited knowledge, with the reviews who think his book is lacking. If this is lacking then I wish there more writers who wrote at this level!
Rating:
Summary: Sorrows of Seeking Joy
Review: Cooking school classmates Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have dreamed of offering gourmet meals in peoples' homes at moderate cost. In Scarlet Feather, you will learn about their first year in business, and how their entrepreneurship affects them and those they love. The book captures the rapidly changing contemporary scene in Dublin, and will make anyone want to visit . . . and have a wonderful meal at Quentin's. Like Tara Road, the book is filled with an enormous number of characters, most of whom are related to one another in either the Mitchell, Scarlet or Feather families. As you read the book, jot down who's who. It will help you keep the characters straight. A number of them only appear every two hundred pages or so. The book deals with a number of appealing themes. Among them are what makes for a loving relationship, our responsibility to the less fortunate, the reasonable boundaries for one's own career aspirations, what noble behavior is, the need for personal responsibility, the dangers of allowing hope or despair to overwhelm an objective view of oneself, and how abused children should be cared for. The messages that come out of the book are sort of a downer though. Almost all men unreliable, parents should be watched lest they do harm to their children, you don't really know the people you love until you try to rely on them . . . and then you will be disappointed, upper class people have no class, poor people are their own worst enemies, most peoples' dreams are pretty silly, ambitious people will pay an enormous price, family law is filled with stupidity, and almost everyone puts their own interests ahead of everyone else's no matter what the cost. Ms. Binchy's strength is that she can take a character, bring that character to life, and evolve that character into a different person by the end of the novel. When she succeeds in those dimensions, you will love the book. The characters of Cathy Feather, Maud Mitchell, Simon Mitchell, and Shona Burke will probably strike you as being very appealing in this dimension. Most of the other characters failed to make the transition into full Binchy development, however. The book's main weakness is that the plot is needlessly exaggerated in many dimensions, which makes the story awkward, extreme and unrealistic. The exaggerations reminded me of the sort of thing you see in a fairy tale, like Cinderella, rather than in a contemporary novel. I could not help consciously comparing the book to that wonderful novel, Tara Road by Ms. Binchy. Scarlet Feather is not nearly in the same class unfortunately, although the two books explore many of the same themes. Despite those weaknesses, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the book if its length had been briefer. But at 549 pages, I felt disappointed. People who will enjoy this book most are those who have been disappointed in love, in their families and in their efforts to start a new business. After you finish this novel, I suggest that you sit down with those you love and discuss how you can be more supportive of them . . . in ways that they need most.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Entertaining
Review: I don't know why I gravitate towards books that occur in the British Isles; any story that takes place in England, Scotland or Ireland finds it's way to me! SCARLET FEATHER, another novel by the renowned Irish author Maeve Binchy, takes place on the Emerald Isle, of course! Each character in this novel is so believable and has so much personality that the reader is actually transported into each little vignette. The main characters, Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather realize their dream of owning their own catering company. Every person who comes into their lives, whether it's Cathy's husband Neil, or Tom's girlfriend, Marcella, Simon and Maude, (nine year-olds who transform from evil twins into adorable little cherubs) or Muttie and his wife Lizzie all make this the most scrumptious novel. Even though starting their own business is definitely not smooth sailing and the young couple must prevail over money problems, relationship dramas, vandalism and theft, this book is still a tremendously fun read.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: I thought the beginning of "Scarlet Feather" was a little slow, I wasn't drawn into the story line right away. As I continued reading, I got more and more intriguied with all of the things going on within the Catering company, and within the personal lives of all involved. Cathy Scarlet (one of the founders of the business) is having trouble in her marriage to Neil Mitchell, a young barrister, and having to deal with his young cousins, Maud and Simon, who are living with her parents. Tom Feather (the other founder of the company), is constantly having trouble with is aspiring model girlfriend, Marcella, and his brother Joe, who is always avoiding their parents, and leaving the entire responsibility of visiting them to Tom. These are just a few of the many plots that kept me interested. I was slightly disappointed by the ending of the book. It left you hanging, like there should be one more chapter. But all in all, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who needed a good book.
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