Rating: 
Summary: Not my favorite of Binchy's books
Review: I always buy Maeve Binchy's books as soon as they hit the shelves, but like one of the other reviewers here, I've been disappointed in her last two. Certainly her earlier books are much better, yet I have to admit that even when I love one of her books, I rarely remember it once I finish it. I also never become wholly invested in her characters. I enjoy them and like reading about them, but they don't haunt me the way characters in other books have. Still, a Binchy read is always pleasurable and if she keeps writing, I'm sure I'll keep reading. The thing she does so well is set the stage. Her rich depiction of Irish life would be reason enough to read her books. Anything else is a bonus.
Rating: 
Summary: Ecchhh
Review: I'm amazed at the number of good reviews of this book. Aside from its appalling length for such a light-weight drama, the dialogue was incredibly amateurish. Definitely *not* one of Binchy's better works.
Rating:
Summary: Modern Day Issues in a Modern Ireland
Review: Maeve Binchy gives us another good read in "Scarlet Feather". This book takes place in modern Ireland where the newest generations do not have to leave home to make their fortunes. We follow Cathy Scarlet's life from family to career for one year. The topics include: balancing marriage and family with a dream-fulfilling career, appreciating where you come from, being recognized and appreciated, and the importance of the people in your life. Why is it so difficult to achieve her goal of owning a catering business with partner Tom Feather? Cathy and Tom are not afraid of hard work, and have many contacts for potential business. Cathy's husband is a successful lawyer, so she does not need to succeed for the money. Yet when tough situations arise, the business is harder to build up. Surrounded by mostly supportive friends and family, she is still not taken entirely seriously. Cathy was raised by loving parents that believed class-separation would always be a barrier to limit a person's aspirations. Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have to deal with the same issues many of us face today. Who says you can't fulfill the "American Dream" in Ireland?
Rating: 
Summary: Most Enjoyable
Review: The story of the first year in the life of a fledgling catering company in Dublin. Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather, chums since culinary school, working through hardship and financial struggle to open and run their dream business... While I'd hesitate to place anything by Maeve Binchey in the category of Great Literature, I really do enjoy reading her work, on a number of levels. One, though her characters always remind me of the Irish relatives on my dad's side of the family, they're NOT stock characters, not abstracts. The temperaments, secrets, reactions and dialogue all seem to arise from individuals, not types. The minor characters are as complex as the major ones. And two, her stories are set in modern Ireland, not some romantic never-land Americanized vision of Ireland (she has a great time poking fun at the shamrock-and-shillelegh mindset, when one of the heroine's emigrant sisters is returning from Chicago to be married in Dublin, and bringing a horde of Polish in-laws who expect corned beef and cabbage and step-dancing---this ain't The Quiet Man, folks). And, all right, so I'll give it to my mom to read, now that I've finished it. It's not just a "mom" novel, though--or if it is, then it's at the top of that classification.
Rating:
Summary: It ended too soon
Review: I was so into this book that my husband was getting annoyed! The characters were so human, so well fleshed out, and the dialogue was so natural. When I was nearing the end I just had to see how it all sorted out, so I stayed up until midnight to finish it. But I must say, I was dissapointed with how it ended. Things that had been talked about so much throughout the book just went away without a wrap up. For example, what was the tragedy that befell the first couple who had a business in the premises that eventually became Scarlet Feather? Other mysteries were revealed, so why not that one? I felt left hanging a bit. The way they just pulled into the drive and had a curt discussion and then the book was over just left me feeling cheated. Hannah Mitchell, who weighed heavily in the begining of the book, just disappeared. Did the business make it? Cathy was so bold, telling off the twins' father when he deserved it, so why didn't she point out that Sara was neglecting her duty to the twins in order to galavant after Neil. After all, she was being paid to supervise the twins and yet they were rarely on her mind. I love Maeve Binchy and have read five or six of her books now, and this is the only one that left me hanging to the point I thought pages were missing from the end of my book! I will continue to read her, though, and just bought one for my mother.
Rating:
Summary: Scarlet Feather
Review: I really loved this story. I've read all of Ms. Binchy's novels and I found this one to be extra endearing through the characters of Maud, Simon, Lizzie and Muttie. I actually think it would make a really cute movie. I thought Tom was rather hard on Marcella in the end. Though sad, it was no suprise that because Cathy had changed so much as a person through her business that her marriage to Neal dissolved. I was impressed with Ms. Binchy's knowledge about the catering business. As always Ms. Binchy has a genuine way with Irish story telling through her language and humor that just keeps me glued to the pages. I found this novel to be her best so far and Evening Class second.
Rating:
Summary: Just a Wonderfully Written Story About People You Care For
Review: Maeve Binchy has really outdone herself with this fantastic book. Although it is a little hard to get into, it is well worth the wait to finish it. Her development of relationships is so satisfying. I loved Maud and Simon, Geraldine, Marcella, and especially Muttie and Lizzie, Cathy Scarlet's parents. I hated to finish it, and look forward to Maeve's next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This is nothing like some of the other works by this author. I found it more like the terrible writing produced by Danielle Steele. In the future I will review Ms. Binchy's works more carefully before purchasing one of her books.
Rating:
Summary: Always worthwhile!
Review: By this time, I have read most of Ms.Binchey's books, and I have yet to be disappointed with any of them. I have just completed Scarlet Feather, and I came away from this book totally in awe of the author's vast knowledge of the food and catering business. Miss Binchy can go into such great detail without boring the reader, and in all her books, Binchy certainly does not gloss over any of her subject matter. With her sense of psychology, socio-econoomics, she is able to bring depth into her well developed characters. However, I was disappointed in the way Cathy turned out in the end. Cathy was a very vibrant person throughout the novel, who was a very independent person totally determined to succeed in her profession. Yes, Ms.Scarlet was up against the odds of a social climbing mother-in-law who always subtly hinted that she was not good enough for her son Neil. Cathy's mother, Lizzie, a good character, but still of the mentality that you do not or should not do anything displease your man. Neil, the husband of Cathy, was a decent person, truly dedicated in his cause in his law field, but he wanted Cathy to foresake her business for his advancement, because, as he expressed it to Cathy, the food business is not as important as the cause of the underdog. Neil's position served a major cause; but Cathy's ambition was to meet the demands of people in the modern day Dublin, the food catering business. Cathy fought the fight to win Neil from the opposition of the matriarch, Hannah Mitchell, and she just let him go too easily and too quickly in the end. As determined as Cathy was in keeping her business with Tom going, and becoming stronger, she too should have won her point with Neil that her cause was not only important to her, but to the demands of the people whom she served. As we can see throughout the story, Cathy was the stronger of the two, and Neil, probably would have gone along, respected and upheld her principles, and we would have been able to follow that she was instrumental in making a continued success of the marriage.
Rating:
Summary: Another great book by my favorite author
Review: I love Maeve Binchy. I'm sorry that this will be her last book. I had read the reviews prior to reading this one and didn't expect it to be as great as the others. I was happy and suprised to find that I enjoyed it as much as the other 9 or so books I've read of hers. I loved the characters and couldn't put the book down. Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather are the kind of people I'd love to meet. They put so much heart into their catering business. I loved reading about the special touches they gave to the clients (leaving special treats in their refrigerator to discover the next day, etc.). I enjoyed seeing the transformation in Maud and Simon. The characters were so warm, loving and supportive. I was sorry to come to the last page.
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