Rating: 
Summary: Not the most spectacular, but still wonderful
Review: I really liked this book. I don't think it's nearly as good as Tara Road, but it was worth the read. I found that Maeve Binchy ties in a lot of characters from Tara Road and other previous books in Scarlet Feather. The story was well set--it's a little predictable at times, and the ending was not surprising to me. She kept dropping hints here and there throughout the book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves Binchy and say that you will not waste your money reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Scarlet Feather is a WINNER !!
Review: I've read three of Maeve Binchly's books so far ... A Circle of Friends, Quentins, and most recently this one. I plan to read ALL of her books. I love her characters and the the roundness of her stories. She truly invites you in for a cup of tea so you can get to know these people. I have to say Scarlet Feather is the best yet. I didn't want it to end, but couldn't stop reading to prolong the enjoyment. Highly recommended !!
Rating: 
Summary: Scarlet Feather
Review: This is not one of Maeve Binchy's best books. It is a boring story about a catering company called "Scarlet Feather". The names of the characters just ran together and and there was hardly any plot. I couldn't wait until the end of the tape!
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Binchy
Review: Set over a period of one year, Scarlet Feather is a novel featuring Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, who open a catering company together. As they deal with the joys and heartbreak of owning a business their relationship with each other changes as does their relationship with the other's around them,notably Cathy's husband, Neil, who is a lawyer who wants to save the world and Tom's beautiful girlfriend, Marcella, who will do just about anything to make it as a model. Also involved are Cathy's parents, Muttie, who knows that the next bet he places will be the winner, and "his wife Lizzie", who used to clean for Neil's mother. Neil's family also plays an important part in the novel, especially his cousin Walter, and Maud and Simon, Walter's neglected 8-year-old brother and sister. Other characters include Cathy's family in America, her Aunt Geraldine, and their accountant James Byrne. By the end of the year, each character's life had changed, many in ways they never would have imagined.
Maeve Binchy is a talented writer who can create many characters and make you care about each one, bad or good. Muttie, Maud and Simon are the characters that stood out the most to me. I wish Neil and Cathy's earlier relationship had been developed more, it's hard to understand what brought the two of them together. I do like the way the novel is set over the period of a year, it's amazing how much life can change in a year.
I like Maeve Binchy's books, but there is something a bit melancholy about them, that, while I enjoy reading them, after I've finished it's a long time before I read another one.
Rating:
Summary: Life Goes On...
Review: This was an excellent book, not your ordinary
run-of-the-mill romance. The topic is unique. How many novels are there out there that focus on catering? And by the way,yes it
did include my two favorite things;children, and animals:)
Tom and Cathy had met in catering school, and always dreamed of one day opening their own catering business. This is the story of how the two of them built this business from the
ground up.
While life goes on around them, they work together to get their business up and running. Even through many pitfalls,
they end up with a place they can be proud of.
I loved the writing of this book and feel that Maeve Binchy is one in a million. I like the way that all of their
family were included in the book, and each paragraph was devoted to a specific story. It seemed sort of like a soap opera that I really got into.
I WANT MORE!!!
(please Maeve)
I adored this book, and give it 5 stars:)
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: 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.
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