Review: Short and sweet
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 20, 2011
"A Week in Summer" is a short story by Maeve Binchy, not a novel or a novella.  I am a huge fan of hers and continue to be amazed at her writing ability so if she writes it, I will read it.Written from the perspective of Kathleen, she is describing her long marriage to Brian and some of the challenges they have faced.  Over the years there have been multiple jobs, multiple moves, and sometimes not a lot of communication.  Even with a long history between them, Kathleen loves her husband and it's one of her deepest desires to go on a vacation with him.  The story revolves around the long-anticipated trip and what they discover about themselves and each other.As other reviewers have mentioned, it is VERY short.  I would be surprised if it translates into more than fifteen printed pages.  I picked it up after I went to bed and quickly finished it before sleep.  Even though it's short, it has many of the hallmarks of typical Binchy writing - quickly engrossing, interesting characters, and the setting of Ireland.  At the beginning, it was excellent but I thought the ending was abrupt and choppy.  Even though it's a short story, there needed to be a smoother, longer wind down at the end.Good but not great