Heart and Soul

by: Maeve Binchy

Published by: Alfred A. Knopf

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

After two less-than-stellar outings, Maeve Binchy is back. Her new novel, Heart and Soul, is a wonderful, fun read that takes readers inside a new heart clinic at St. Brigid’s Hospital.

Dr. Clara Casey has taken the job of creating the clinic out of a disused storage depot on St. Brigid’s ground. It’s unclear where Clara was before she took on the enormity of this task, but she has only one year, the length of her contract, to get the place up and running. Although she has full support of the hospital’s board, her nemesis is Chief Financial Officer Frank Ennis. Frank believes that the clinic is a bad idea and goes out of his way to thwart Clara at every opportunity. However, it isn’t long before Clara has hired a staff and gotten the place ready for opening.

Clara’s story is the glue that binds the other stories together. She fights with Frank on almost every aspect, from hiring staff to decorating. At home, Clara faces more difficulties. Two grown daughters, Adi and Linda, don’t see why they should contribute in either monetary means or individual labors–they seem to think that their mother owes them a living.

Then there’s Clara’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Alan (whom she refers to as That Bastard Alan) who tries to prey on her emotions.

At the clinic, a romance is in the air. There’s one budding between Fiona Ryan and the new doctor, Declan Carroll. Meanwhile, Clara and Hilary are conspiring to fix-up their less-than-ambitious children without hints that they are involved.

Like in many of her novels, Binchy has populated her stories with characters that have appeared in other works. Readers will remember the lovely Fiona from Nights of Rain and Stars. One of the more interesting new characters is the young Polish immigrant, Ania Prasky. Both spunky and shy, I hope we see a lot more of Ania before Binchy truly retires.

When Fiona calls off her engagement, her reasoning is less than clear. This is Heart and Soul’s only drawback to an otherwise wonderful way to spend an evening or two.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

Author’s Web site: http://www.MaeveBinchy.com