Editions

Light A Penny Candle

Light A Penny Candle

  • Her classic debut bestseller

'Maeve Binchy! I love her stories and have since Light a Penny Candle.' TOM HANKS
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A FRIENDSHIP NOTHING COULD DESTROY

Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, the shy Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the O'Connor family in Kilgarret, Ireland, where she strikes up an unlikely friendship with the lively, boisterous Aisling O'Connor.

Neither of them were to know it would become the most important friendship of their lives. Their bond is unshakeable, enduring over turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams - and searing betrayals . . .

With warmth, wit and great compassion, Maeve Binchy tells a magnificent story of two women, bound together in a friendship that nothing could tear apart - not even the man who threatened to come between them forever.
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'What better books to raise the spirits than the gentle, insightful Irish tales of Maeve Binchy'? HELLO! Magazine

'Wonderfully warm and involving' KATIE FFORDE

'If any author can help you survive lockdown, it's Binchy' DAILY MAIL

'I find myself yearning for the rain-soaked watercolour writing of Maeve Binchy' JENNY COLGAN, GUARDIAN Best Comfort Reads

'Binchy's novels are never less than entertaining' SUNDAY TIMES

Reviews

  • 'The ideal doorstopper to occupy long, dark evenings’

    Daily Mail

  • She was just so aware of everyday people, and when I read her first book, Light a Penny Candle, I swore I knew every character in the book. I have read and re-read most of her books. I could not pick one, just all Maeve Binchy. She helps me switch off!

    Veronica McSwiney, Irish Independent

  • Maeve Binchy has a gimlet eye for the seething cauldron of emotions which lies beneath the surface of everyday life

    Irish Independent

  • An adept storyteller with a sharp eye for social nuances and a pleasing affection for her characters

    Sunday Times

  • A thoroughly enjoyable and readable book

    The Times

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About the Author

Maeve Binchy

Maeve Binchy was born in Dublin, and went to school at the Holy Child Convent in Killiney. She took a history degree at UCD and taught in various girls' schools, writing travel articles in the long summer holidays. In 1969 she joined the Irish Times and for many years she was based in London writing humorous columns from all over the world. She is the author of five collections of short stories as well as twelve novels including Circle of Friends, The Copper Beech, Tara Road, Evening Class and The Glass Lake. Maeve Binchy died on 30 July 2012. She is survived by her husband, the writer Gordon Snell.

Maeve Binchy

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