Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy

Basic plot

In a quaint Irish town called Rossmore lies a the answer to everyones prayers and wishes, well, sort of. Deep in Whitethorn Woods is a well dedicated to St Ann (mother to Mary/grandmother to Jesus). Many people believed that the well was capable of making the wishes of the townsfolk come true. Almost as many as those who thought it was just a load of superstitious pagan nonsense. The town is split in half when a new road set to bring progress is planned to go right through Whitethorn wood and St Ann's Well. The lives of the people of Rossmore and their stories are full of surprises, and the well, may be magical after all.

What I liked about this book

To be honest I picked up this book for 2 reasons, firstly, the beautiful front cover (yes, I do judge a book by its cover) and the fact that it had the words THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER in caps under the title. After struggling through the sleepy first chapter (which served mostly to introduce some of the characters and the well itself), I was more than pleasantly surprised. The book is actually a collection of short stories, told in pairs, namely 2 narratives of a central theme or incident. Each story was quirky, funny, sweet and its sister story was its complement, a twist to the tale and a refreshing new angle. The people of Rossmore all have an interesting story to tell, some truly heartwarming.

What I disliked about this book

Like any collection of short stories, some are better than others. I also think the the central character is was strangely, the most uninteresting one. Thankfully he was only in the beginning and the end :)

A quote I liked from this book

And I smiled the first real smile for weeks. Because now I knew it was settled.

Rating: 4/5