Rating: 
Summary: A book to read until the pages fall out.
Review: Let's get this straight -- Echoes does not end with all of the plot strings tied up in a happy bow. In a way it echoes life itself. Plans go astray, promises are broken, moments of greatness are reached and the story keeps going.Binchy does an excellent job making the reader care about Claire, the spunky scholarship girl with dreams beyond her tiny seaside hometown. You cheer her on through her academic victories, laugh and cry with her at the cast of small town characters and urge her to fall in love with David, the Doctor's perfect son. Because Claire's character is so artfully presented, the last hundred or so pages are painful. What seemed like a perfect story of love unbounded by class becomes a lesson on unfullfilled dreams and changing priorities. You are sad for Claire, even mad at her for giving in to her situation. You rail against the people who hurt her and complain about an ending that leaves too much up in the air, but never once can you complain that the book is unbelievable. And for the ending. We don't know what happens to David and Claire. They both have a life ahead of them, with hopes that it will be together. I think, with a spark of optimism, that Claire sees that her life isn't over and maybe her dreams have just been delayed.
Rating: 
Summary: Another great book from Maeve Binchy
Review: ECHOES by Maeve Binchy Here's a book I read earlier this summer - ECHOES by Maeve Binchy. It's the story of two people, David Powers and Clare O'Brien, and how their lives seem to be destined to come together, despite what social status dictates. They grow up in the same small town of Castlebay in Ireland, travelling in different circles, since David's family is well to do, while Clare's is part of the working class. But they eventually find their lives intertwined as they approach adulthood. Clare's desire as she's growing up is to leave this small town, where she knows she would be trapped forever, expected to live out a life as traditionally as women have in the past - get married, have babies. Clare wants more for herself, and with the help of her teacher Angela O'Hara, who had remained single so far into her adult life, she tries to meet her goal. David's calling is to be a doctor as his father before him. For him, his parents prefer something better than being stuck forever with a lower class girl like Clare. It is their hopes that he marries into a prominent Irish family and continues the family practice. But fate has something different in mind. The story of David and Clare had me glued to this book, and as always Maeve Binchy tells a great story, filled with wonderful personalities that surround the main characters. I highly recommend ECHOES as one of Binchys' best books to date. Don't be put off by the length. It's worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: --I loved this story--
Review: In looking through books on tape at the library, I ran across ECHOES, and decided to give it a try. I had never heard of it before, but have found most of Maeve Binchy's stories to be more than good. What at great treat! This is a terrific story about a small seaside village in Ireland called Castlebay. I was immediately hooked on the story. Clare O'Brien is the daughter of a poor shopkeeper and meant to stay in her place in this village where your birth status decides your life. The assumption is rather amazing since the story takes place in the 1950's and early 1960's. Clare is very bright and stands out in a family where her siblings are certainly not overachievers. She's helped and motivated by a young teacher who sees herself in Clare and wants to give her a chance at a better life. Clare works hard and wins several scholarships, which enable her to go on to the university in Dublin. This story is filled with a cast of characters who seemed very genuine to me. The unfolding events explain how Clare changes and how the village people, both rich and poor, view the young woman. Clare's own family, seem to be at odds with the fact that she wants to improve her lot in life, and her choice of a husband is not well received by anyone. The author's daughter, Kate Binchy, read my audio book. She was such an excellent reader, that I will now look for her name on other audio books. She was able, with different Irish accents, to keep each character totally unique.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read
Review: Maeve Binchy has an uncanny ability to create characters which the reader grows to know and enjoy and hates to let go at the end of the book. In this novel, Binchy details the lives of a group of young people in the town of Castlebay, Ireland, from 1950-1962. There are the usual class distinctions which are far more important to the adults than they are to their children. One young woman, Clare O'Brien, renounces the usual life of her working class parents by working hard enough to get scholarships to school. She studies under the tutelage of Angela O'Hara who was also academically gifted, but whom circumstances have trapped in a dead-end teaching job in her hometown. Clare works hard for her degree, thus separating herself from her family. However, her academic successes have not put her on an even level with some of the young people who come from more prominent families. She and a wealthier young man fall in love and they must battle a variety of negative outside influences. This is an engrossing tale which causes the reader to really care about the characters and what becomes of them.
Rating:
Summary: Soul wrenching at its finest
Review: I have never, repeat never, read a book as touching and involving as this one. I have no clue why this was my first introduction to such a superior storyteller as Maeve Binchy. I'm only saddened that I've waited so long to read one of her books. I can't wait to get another. This lady has a gift. This book is enthralling. Definitely not a story you will soon forget if ever. The characters are amazingly real, you grow so attached to them faults and all. You will be happy for them at times and your heart will absolutely break for them at other times. Simply fabulous. Although a little slow in the beginning you won't be able to put it down when things start happening. Although I didn't like the way the ending left me hanging, I couldn't dare think it wasn't worth it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story! However this one isn't good, it's wonderful!
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Summary: Binchy Rules!
Review: This gal sure can spin a yarn! Reading this book is an instant ticket to a small seaside town in 1950's Ireland. The main characters tend to be cheerful and optimistic while handling life's ups and downs. Very inspiring to a pessimist like myself.
Although The Glass Lake is my favorite Binchy novel so far, this ranks as one of the better ones. But even bad Binchy, like the disappointing Scarlet Feather, is better than most mass produced paperback romances -- or "Oprah" selections, for that matter! I did think the ending was quite abrupt, but other than that, it was enjoyable, and as always, sad to leave the characters behind :(
Rating:
Summary: Like your favourite old sweater
Review: ECHOES was my first exposure to Maeve Binchy, and I was not disappointed. It is the timeworn tale of the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who wins the love of the wealthy boy. But it doesn't necessarily end happily ever after, and for that it's a step above your run-of-the-mill romance novel. Binchy's enchanting depiction of Ireland in the '50s and '60s and her loving characterizations warmly send the reader into that time and place. It was a treat for me every evening to come home from working in the corporate frenzy of the new millennium to return to that simpler time. Nothing too terribly shocking or powerful, not a whole lot to contemplate when you reach the end, just a welcome respite for a few hundred pages. If, as many reviewers here have suggested, ECHOES is not Maeve Binchy's best work, then I find myself very fortunate to be able to work my way through her catalog.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: I am not a member of Amazon.com and so decided to take a kid's review. It says above that I am 12, but I am actually 14.
When I read this book I was captivatated as it is based on themes of change and this is conveyed very strongly by Claire O'Brien, daughter of the local shopkeepers, who grew up alongside the local doctor's perfect son, David Power. Claire receives a scholarship for college and it is there that she meets David again and they fall in love. The perfect part, though, is that it is not a mushy-mushy happy ending as there is betrayal, but the title of Echoes fits this book very much as the story seems to echo and you don't know what happens to David and Claire. It was my first Maeve Binchy and I thought it was brilliant.
Rating: 
Summary: Echoes
Review: Poor, poor, poor.
After rereading this book, I wondered why I wasted my time again. Maeve Binchy is usually a very reliable story teller and this book is not up to her ususal standards. The character descriptions are great in the begining but towards the end,the story line and characters fall apart. The ending is extremely unsatisfying.Choose another book by this author if you're new to Binchy,such as Tara Road. But if you must read Echoes,get it from the library, don't spend your money on it.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal Read
Review: This book deftly follows the relationship of a mother and daughter as they seem to always find their way back to each other regardless of what happens along the way. It is a definite page turner and one of my absolute favorite Binchy books.
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