Evening Class

by Maeve Binchy

Book Overview

It was the quiet ones you had to watch. That's where the real passion was lurking. They came together at Mountainview College, a down-at-the-heels secondary school on the seamy side of Dublin, to take... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385318073
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Trying to complete my collection

Hardcover book arrived with no protective cover. I paid for “like new” but it sticks out like a sore thumb on my bookshelf. Very disappointed

Wonderful read!

Aiden Dunne is a Latin professor at Mountainview College, a less-than-fashionable school in a poor part of Dublin. Signora, a woman with a melancholy past has moved back to Dublin after living in Sicily for many years. They share a love of Italy, and circumstances put them together in planning an evening class of Italian. They fear that there will not be enough participants but 30 members show up for class and are enchanted enough with the hands-on teaching style of Signora that they stay for the duration and then have a wonderful adventure at the end of the class. Binchy writes each chapter from the point of view of a class member and cleverly intertwines the characters into a fascinating story. She makes us care about each person and writes a book which I hated to see end.

Good Binchy To Start With

First, my bias: I plan to name my unborn children after Maeve Binchy out of love, respect, and appreciation for her work. Now with that said, "Evening Class" is her finest hour. If you have gotten this far down the review list then you already know Binchy can create characters in a simply complex way like no other writter of her sort. However, if you are just learning of her you may be overwhelmed by the amount of good works she has available and don't know where to start. "Evening Class" is just the place. An engagingly superb read, "Evening Class" will draw you in to the writing force that is Maeve Binchy.

Strong book from which I learned.

I very much enjoyed Evening Class, my third Binchy book. As a teacher myself, I saw how another one was so dedicated and enthusiastically effective. According to her bio, Binchy herself was a Latin teacher. I learned from the various characters as well: the showing of love for Mario, and the backbone of Constanza. The only character that puzzled me was Nell Dunne. She seemed to be not the least upset that her marriage was ending, that she was entirely alone, and that she would have only half the house to which she was accustomed. Why would she be interested, anyway, in a married floral delivery man, when she already had a teacher, an intellectual, a dedicated father and husband? Anyway, read the book. It makes you think.

Wonderful!

As always, Maeve Binchy writes with tenderness about ordinary, appealing people leading ordinary lives. She weaves a number of characters all taking an evening class in Italian into a tapestry of juxtaposed stories and emotions. You want to keep turning pages to see what happens to everyone and to share Binchy's view of Dublin, Ireland and its denizens. More than a few tears here... touching people that you care about. I've read a lot of Maeve Binchy's books and my favorite, though, is LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE, about a child who is sent to live in Ireland during the bombing of London during World War II. I adored that book and read it several times. Binchy even managed to make the dog seem like a living, breathing, animal with personality. Try out her books if you haven't. They are great

Captivating! Maeve Binchy's BEST book ever!!!

I was first introduced to Maeve Binchy by my army officer, and have been captivated and have read ALL her stories ever since reading The Copper Beech. All the characters in Evening Class are all well fleshed out, and you really develop feelings for each and every one of them. The individual stories will make you sad, angry and move you all at the same time. The best thing about reading a Maeve Binchy's book is the inter-human relationships; how vastly different lives can somehow be entwined through some twist of fate. It makes very interesting reading as you read through the lives of Signora (my fave character! Hers is one of the most touching and moving stories of all in the book), Aidan and his family etc.. This book is just so interesting that I simply cannot put it down! I finished the book in 1 and 1/2 days, at one go!!! For those of you who are still hesitating, GO AND BUY IT NOW!!! This book is even better than her other recent release "This Year It Will Be Different: And Other Stories".