Question: Who wrote the novel Evening Class?
Answer: Maeve Binchy

Evening Class is a novel by Maeve Binchy. It was adapted as the award-winning film Italian for Beginners (2000) by writer-director Lone Scherfig, who failed to formally acknowledge the source, although at the very end of the closing credits is the line 'with thanks to Maeve Binchy'.

Plot introduction

A story of many Irish men and women from various backgrounds and how a teacher, Nora O'Donoghue (known as "Signora"), and an Italian evening class changes their lives over the course of a year.  Each chapter deals with the life story of one or more students in the class.  In a Dickensian way, they bump into each other and are affected by the decisions of those around them.

Major themes

It is a story of love and deceit, family drama, wealth and poverty, of friendship and courage.

Related

Nora O'Donoghue and Aidan Dunne also appear in Quentins, another novel by Maeve Binchy, and play a more significant role in Heart and Soul.

Film adaptation

The novel heavily inspired the plot of the Danish feature film Italian for Beginners (2000), which won a Silver Berlin Bear and several other major international awards. Maeve Binchy was not paid, credited nor informed of this, but was later paid an undisclosed sum, when her publisher contacted the producers of the movie, Lars von Trier's company Zentropa. Although the film's writer-director Lone Scherfig had told the press that the film was based on her idea, executive producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen later admitted that she had made him aware of the similarities but that he had simply decided not to pay the original author.

Jules' Book Reviews: Book Review: Evening Class
Jules' Book Reviews
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Pages
Author: Maeve Binchy
Pages: 520
Summary: Aiden Dunne needs his new evening class project to succeed almost as much as his pupils do. They too are lookng for something more: Bill to find a way to keep spendthrigt Lizzie at his side and Fran to make sure that young Kathy finds her way out from behind the kitchen sink.
The key to their success lies with the Sinora. Her passion has drawn her from Ireland to Italy and backhome again with a burning desire to share her love of all things Itlaian - and a secret hidden in her heart. . . .
My Rating: 8/10
What I liked/disliked about the book: Although it had a bit of a slow start, this book turned out to be a wonderful read. I can’t believe I’ve let the author’s books sit on my shelf for as long as I have. She is a fantastic writer, who spends time to really create concrete characters, in a wide range of ages and backgrounds, who you really learn to appreciate and watch develop throughout the books, mixed with great writing, and story, turned out to be a wonderful read for me.
Once the book got moving, I found my self really enjoying the book and its characters. Although some characters bothered me, like Aiden’s family, what a miserable lot, some characters intrigued me, and I really found myself, caring about them. One of my favourite aspects of the books were how it was written, each section focused on a different character, and while that section’s character was the main focus, it still gave you information and pulled in other characters stories as well. They way the author balanced this was extremely well done - I was surprised how well it all came together, as it is broken down in multiple short stories, but it’s one continuous story as well.
I also enjoyed the story as a  whole, I loved how the class brought all of these people together, who wouldn’t normally come together as a group, and in some way helped them develop as people, help them stretch out to others, and enjoy a fun class. It sends a powerful message, of working towards your goals, helping your selves and helping others, but it doesn’t go overboard in that message, it’s just written it a lovely book. I loved the ending, although there was one part in near the ending that was a little, out of left field, I think the book could have been without, it was the only real part that didn’t flow well with the rest of the story. The only other complaint was the slow start. Starting with Aiden, and his miserable family, almost made me give up. His wife really is a miserable, miserable person, and having a book start out on that made for a slow start. But, other than that, a fantastic read.
Would I recommend it to read: I would recommend it to read. It has a bit of a slow start, but it was a good book. An interesting and eclectic cast of characters, and a very strong message of coming together and helping the others grow, and great storytelling. I'd also recommend any of the authors books.
What to read next: Sushi for Beginners, More books by the author

Evening Class by Maeve Binchy - TheBookbag.co.uk book review
Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
From TheBookbag
Summary: Evening Class comes highly recommended for all those who like character-based novels with a little more depth than many books more recently published.
Buy? Yes
ISBN: 0752876821
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This is one of my favourite novels by Maeve Binchy. As with much of her work, the setting is Ireland. The main focus of the story is an Italian evening class, set up by a rather disillusioned school teacher, employing an Irish lady who has lived in Sicily for many years. Thirty students gather and become deeply involved in each other's lives.
The book is written from several perspectives, starting with the school teacher, explaining why he is unhappy, and how the idea of the evening class arose. His wife and daughters are introduced, along with some other people who will appear later in the novel.
In the second section we meet Signora, who is to become the Italian teacher. The book goes back to her life in Sicily, her reasons for being there, and why she eventually leaves. Then we follow her as she returns to Ireland, finds somewhere to live, and is eventually persuaded to try her hand at teaching.
The novel continues in this way, changing perspectives in each section, but this is not at all disruptive; instead, each viewpoint adds to the understanding of the story as a whole. I did find the rather large cast-list a bit confusing at times, and couldn't always remember what relationship each one had with the rest, but this wasn't too disturbing. Each chapter starts a way back in a character's life, and ends a little further forward in time than the previous one, so there's a sense of moving forward as well as the ever-increasing knowledge of different people.
I found it very enjoyable. I first read this book eight years ago, and found that re-reading it, I had forgotten almost everything, so was surprised anew by some of the revelations.
Highly recommended to anyone who likes character-based novels with more depth than many average modern books.
You can read more book reviews or buy Evening Class by Maeve Binchy at Amazon.co.uk .
You can read more book reviews or buy Evening Class by Maeve Binchy at Amazon.com .

Maeve Binchy:   Quotes, Themes, Bibliography, and a   List of Books by Author Maeve Binchy
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"I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation." -- Maeve Binchy
Maeve Binchy (born 28 May 1940 Dalkey, County Dublin) is an Irish novelist, newspaper columnist and speaker. Educated at University College Dublin, she worked as a teacher then a journalist at The Irish Times and later become a writer of novels and short stories.
Many of her novels are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between urban and rural life, the contrasts between England and Ireland, and the dramatic changes in Ireland between World War II and the present day.
Her novel Circle of Friends was made into a 1995 Hollywood movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver with a radical change of ending.
Binchy announced in 2000 that she would not be going on tours with any more novels, but would be devoting her time to other activities, and to her husband, Gordon Snell, a children's author. She has written four further novels since then — Quentins, Night of Rain and Stars, Whitethorn Woods, and Heart and Soul. She lives in Dalkey, not far from where she grew up.
In 1978, Binchy won a Jacob's Award for her RTï¿½ play, Deeply Regretted By. A second award went to the lead actor, Donall Farmer. A 1993 photograph of her by Richard Whitehead belongs to the collection of the National Portrait Gallery  and a painting of her by Maeve McCarthy, commissioned in 2005, is on display in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Evening Class Audiobook | Maeve Binchy | Audible.com
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Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms.
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Publisher's Summary
The Mountainview School in working-class Dublin boasts a brightly festooned room brimming with paper flowers and Renaissance posters. There, in an evening class, "An Introduction to Italian," come Aiden Dunne, the supervisor, Signora, the professoressa, and 30 or so students, whose hopes and dreams are bound up in the Tuesday and Thursday lessons.
Aiden Dunne has been passed over for headmaster of the school, and his family is falling apart. He desperately needs the evening class to be a success to restore his self-respect. Nora O'Donoghue, "Signora," followed the man she loved to Italy and waited 23 years for him, never faltering in her love. Signora, needy in a different way, will be the teacher, and together she and Aiden will conduct the class.
The students couldn't be more different. There is Bill Burke, a young bank clerk who goes to the classes hoping he might be considered for a job in international banking and that his spendthrift girlfriend, who has agreed to go to class with him, will have fewer opportunities to waste their money. Kathy Clark works too hard at school. She joins the Italian class for relaxation. There is Lou, whose wife Suzy Sullivan, has no idea why her husband is studying Italian; Laddy, the hotel porter, who's thought of by family and friends as slow and dim; and Connie, the society hostess who has an oddly empty calendar. For all of the students the thought of a trip to Italy when the course has been completed involves a different kind of drama. And by the time they are ready to set out on the journey, each one's life has changed utterly.
©1997 Maeve Binchy; (P)1997 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.
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Evening Class Audiobook | Maeve Binchy | Audible.com
Overall
"A great way to spend your evening(s)"
This has to be my favourite of all Maeve Binchy's books, both the written and audio versions.  A medley of characters, portrayed with  generosity and sympathy, all embarking on the class for different reasons.  I loved the way the back stories of the characters are melded together and how, the group moves forward together, to plan and then embark on their trip to Italy - which visit is the scene of some surprises for more than a few of them.
The marvellous 'Signora' - Nora - tugs at your heart with her heart warming simplicity and honesty and how good to have a love story where the key characters are not young, trendy, aspirational and career oriented 'thirty somethings' but instead are gently middle-aged with disappointments and disillusion behind them.  Other individuals and couples in the story, similarly chime true and with the bonus of picking up some handy Italian phrases on the way, this novel is worth curling up with any evening, several times - it is always pleasant to revisit Mountain View - both in Italy and Ireland, to meet up again with these old friends.  Hats off, again, to Kate Binchy, for her flawless and characterful narration.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Suzanne
Overall
"Loved it   Loved it  Loved it"
What a wonderful book. It brought tears to my eyes and joy to my soul. Following the lives of what seems at first a mismatch of people who all embark on an Italian evening class for a wide variety of reasons takes you on a roller coaster of emotions and secrets. It also brings you into the world of Italy.  For those of us who have been lucky to have visited it also is a trip down memory lane - I just with I had taken the class before I went. A fabulous listen!
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Sally-AnneR

Evening Class : Maeve Binchy : 9780752876825
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Description
A group of people, all looking for something more in their lives, and all they have in common is their Italian evening class...The Italian evening class at Mountainview School is like hundreds of others starting up all over the city. But this class has its own special quality - as the focus for the varied hopes and dreams of teacher and pupils alike.  Aidan Dunne needs his new evening class project to succeed almost as much as his pupils do. They too are looking for something more: Bill to find a way to keep spendthrift Lizzie at his side, and Fran to make sure that young Kathy finds her way out from behind the kitchen sink. The key to their success lies with the Signora. Her passion has drawn her from Ireland to Italy and back home again with a burning desire to share her love of all things Italian - and a secret hidden in her heart... show more
Product details
130                                     x 190                                     x 38mm                                                                      | 439.98g
Publication date
Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
Publication City/Country
Contemporary Fiction
About Maeve Binchy
Maeve Binchy was born in County Dublin and educated at the Holy Child convent in Killiney and at University College, Dublin. After a spell as a teacher she joined the Irish Times. Her first novel, LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE, was published in 1982 and she went on to write over twenty books, all of them bestsellers. Several have been adapted for cinema and television, including TARA ROAD. Maeve Binchy received a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at the BRITISH BOOK AWARDS in 1999 and the Irish PEN/A. T. CROSS AWARD in 2007. In 2010 she was presented with the BOB HUGHES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at the BORD GAIS IRISH BOOK AWARDS by the President of Ireland. She was married to the writer and broadcaster Gordon Snell for 35 years, and died in 2012. Visit her website at www.maevebinchy.com show more
Review quote
The Italian evening class starting at a Dublin school appears like any other. But those involved are desperate for a new life, and by the time they reach Italy at the end of the course their lives are changed forever. Another winner from Binchy PRIMA Reading Maeve Binchy has always acted as therapy of a sort. Her witty, literate small-town tales exude a rosy glow to ease the troubled mind THE TIMES EVENING CLASS is a deliciously gossipy read ... it will not disappoint DAILY MAIL Binchy, as always, treats her characters with a generous empathy and an intense affection. By the time the book closes with the group enjoying a longed-for holiday in Italy, the story seems to gurgle with joy. EVENING CLASS is a wonderfully enjoyable tale of moral evolution, guaranteed to produce a run on every Italian class in the country IRISH TIMES It's a grand read ... EVENING CLASS will keep endless readers happy as the nights draw in and swell many a Christmas stocking IRISH INDEPENDENT Warm, witty and with a deep understanding of what makes us tick, it's little wonder that Maeve Binchy's bewitching stories have become world-beaters OK MAGAZINE Gripping WOMAN'S JOURNAL show more
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Maeve Binchy : Quentins : Book Review
Maeve Binchy
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"Quentins"
(Reviewed by Shannon Bloomstran OCT 31, 2002)
Heads up all you "happy ending" junkies. You know who you are. You're the ones who want to remake Casablanca so Ilsa leaps off the plane and into Rick's arms, the ones who cheer when Dorothy returns wto Kansas, the ones who break out in a cold sweat just thinking about Anna Karenina. I'm giving you this heads up because Maeve Binchy, who I call the Queen of Happy Endings has a new book out. It's called "Quentins," (the missing apostrophe is intentional) and tells two stories; one about young Ella Brady and her ill-fated love life and the other about a stylish Dublin restaurant, Quentins. It also boasts a bushel of happy endings.
When I review books, I try hard to evaluate each on its own merits and not compare different works from the same author. However, Binchy makes that a difficult task here because she incorporates several characters from her previous novels into the action at Quentins. Binchy's fans will recognize Signora from Evening Class, Ria from Tara Road and several others. I have read several of these works, although I couldn't recall much about them. Therefore, I found this a bit distracting, something akin to a singer throwing in previous hits on a new CD. More serious fans will probably appreciate knowing a little bit more about what happens to these beloved characters.
Binchy does have a knack for creating strong, believable characters and the main character in Quentins, Ella Brady, is no exception. Like many of the other lead characters in Binchy's novels, Ella is a strong and warm young woman living in the new Ireland. Over the years, Binchy's novels have chronicled the changes in Ireland as well as the lives and loves of its citizens. Our heroine, a young science teacher, meets and falls for a stylish older man, financier Don Richardson who is seemingly locked in a marriage of convenience. Ella takes up with Don over her parents' and friends' strenuous objections. As you might guess, all is not what it seems with Vile Don and unsuspecting Ella finds herself in the middle of an international scandal. Binchy weaves a taught story around Ella and Don and although one probably knows in her heart what will happen, it's still compelling enough to stick around for the ride.
As Ella's scandal reaches its apex, she resigns from her teaching job and takes a position with a tiny, independent film company run by an old friend. They decide to make documentary about the day in the life of the restaurant, Quentins, focusing on the unique stories of the patrons and staff. Binchy intersperses these stories throughout the novel and although they are very sweet and quite compelling on their own right, they tend to distract from the overall plot involving Don and Ella. I liked Ella, and was of course rooting for her to dump Don and move on, so I found it difficult to leave her story midstream to read about say, a waitress and her attempts to find love. All of the stories are fast paced, though, so one doesn't have to wait too long to get back to the action.
Quentins (both the novel and the restaurant) is peopled with warm and lovable characters. From the couple who put their heart and soul into Quentins, to Ella's friend, Deirdre who is "cross as a pack of weasels" to soulful American philanthropist, Derry, who rediscovers his Irish roots, Binchy has given every reader someone to cheer for. It's a big sloppy Golden Retriever of a book. You can see the endings, all of them happy, coming a mile away, and even though the writing is not always crisp and sparkling, everyone can find something to like about Quentins.
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About the Author:
Maeve Binchy was born in Dalkey, a small village outside of Dublin, Ireland in 1940. To this day she draws on her experiences there when creating the rural villages so often found at the heart of her novels. Binchy received her B.A. from University College in Dublin and became a teacher. Her teaching post at a Jewish school and subsequent vacation in Israel inspired her to work on a kibbutz there. While abroad, Binchy wrote letters to her father every week describing life in a land that was ever on the brink of war. When her father sold one of her letters to The Irish Times for 18 pounds, Binchy, who had been making £16 working at the school, thought that she had truly arrived. She soon became a popular columnist, writing twice-weekly articles distinguished by a quirky, self-deprecating humour.
From these humble beginnings, Binchy's success has been astounding. As well as her many bestselling novels, she writes short stories, and plays.
Maeve Binchy lives with her husband, Gordon Snell, in Dublin.