Silver Wedding

Product Description

There was never any question that Deirdre and Desmond Doyle would celebrate a gala twenty-fifth anniversary. Naturally, their daughter Anna, would plan their grand affair. Of all three Doyle children, Anna knew exactly what their mother wishedeven as she lived her own secret life. Will Brendan, the rebellious son, even bother to return to London? Will Helen, the hapless would-be nun, embarrass them all? This is Deirdres day, a triumph for a woman obsessed with keeping up appearances, her silvery revenge after marrying down twenty-five years ago. Shes determined to show them all: the maid of honor, still unmarried, still gorgeous, now a successful London business womanthe best man, once Desmonds close friend, now his bosstheir reluctant priest, who harbors his own guilty secret.

As family and friends gather, a lifetime of lies takes its toll. But what begins as a family charade brings with it the transforming power of loveand truth.

From the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The arrangements for celebrating Desmond and Deirdre Doyle’s forthcoming silver wedding anniversary fall to Anna, their eldest daughter, who works in a pretentious London bookshop. Anna proceeds to make a list of guests, most important of whom, besides her parents and herself, are her sister Helen, brother Brendan, and three other participants in the wedding ceremony: the best man, Frank Quigley; Maureen Barry, the maid of honor; and Father Hurley. Each leisurely chapter deals with one of these characters, detailing their lives in the 25 years since the Doyle’s marriage. Binchy ( Firefly Summer) exhibits her gift for astute and loving characterization as she examines the way relationships and families work. She engagingly delineates the pressures, both stated and unstated, that repel or attract, the striving for approval from parents and lovers. At the silver wedding celebration, when the obligatory photograph is taken for the family album, the reader knows well what fears and doubts, secrets and achievements lie behind the happy smiles. Readers Digest Condensed Book selection; BOMC featured alternate; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Reading these tales is like listening to someone talking: someone you very much want to hear.
Sunday Telegraph

“A rousing good story…. Laughter and tears: it’s what Binchy does best.”
San Francisco Chronicle.

From the Inside Flap

to celebrate, when Desmond and Deirdre Doyle must gather family and friends around them in remembrance of the twenty-five years of marriage they’ve shared. A moment of reckoning as an uneasy couple is forced to face a hapless daughter still struggling to become a nun… a son who prefers the bleak family farm in Ireland to London… the once best man, now Desmond’s boss… Deirdre’s bridesmaid, now a successful career woman… and their priest with his guilty secret. A time of transformation for their eldest daughter, Anna. For only Anna can confront their tarnished lives and find a truth to draw them into a circle of love that might nourish, protect, and finally heal them all.

From the Publisher

As occasion to celebrate, when Desmond and Deirdre Doyle must gather family and friends around them in remembrance of the twenty-five years of marriage they’ve shared. A moment of reckoning as an uneasy couple is forced to face a hapless daughter still struggling to become a nun… a son who prefers the bleak family farm in Ireland to London… the once best man, now Desmond’s boss… Deirdre’s bridesmaid, now a successful career woman… and their priest with his guilty secret. A time of transformation for their eldest daughter, Anna. For only Anna can confront their tarnished lives and find a truth to draw them into a circle of love that might nourish, protect, and finally heal them all.
“A rousing good story…. Laughter and tears: it’s what Binchy does best.” — San Francisco Chronicle.

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