Kindle Price:	£5.99
Sold by:	Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. This price was set by the publisher.

Add Audible narration to your purchase for just £3.99

Deliver to your Kindle Library

Tara Road: An emotional, uplifting story of friendship and family from a beloved #1 bestselling author by [Maeve Binchy]

Follow the author

Maeve Binchy

Tara Road: An emotional, uplifting story of friendship and family from a beloved #1 bestselling author Kindle Edition

by Maeve Binchy (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

2,238 ratings

See all formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Kindle Edition

"Please retry"

£5.99

—

Audible Audiobooks, Unabridged

"Please retry"

£0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

£15.70

£0.44

Paperback

"Please retry"

£7.99

£5.46

£1.21

Audio, cassette, Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

—

£9.95

'Reading a Maeve Binchy book is like slipping into a scented warm bubble bath.' (Five Star Reader Review)

'A wonderful story of family and friends, love and betrayal.' (Five Star Reader Review)
_____________

Ria and Marilyn have never met, but they're about to swap lives...

Ria Lynch lives in a big, warm, Victorian house in Tara Road, Dublin, where her life revolves around family and friends. Marilyn Vine lives thousands of miles away in a quiet, modern house in New England. After a terrible loss, she has closed herself off from the world.

Two more unlikely friends would be hard to find, but when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems the ideal solution. Along with the borrowed houses come neighbours and friends, gossip and speculation, and Ria and Marilyn soon realise that swapping lives won't be the peaceful escape they'd been hoping for... Though it might turn out to be exactly the change they both needed.
_____________

'A brilliant storyteller' GRAHAM NORTON
'This is Binchy at her best' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'Maeve was my hero' MARIAN KEYES
_____________

Find out why millions of readers all over the world adore Maeve Binchy's TARA ROAD

'My ALL TIME FAVOURITE Maeve Binchy book. The characters become part of your life.' (Five Stars)

'I love all of Maeve Binchy's books, in Tara Road she creates a world of complex characters that you can believe in and care about.' (Five Stars)

'My favorite book of all time . Reminded me of my friends while growing up' (Five Stars)

'I absolutely loved this book, I felt I was part of the story and couldn't put it down, this is my first Maeve book but will definitely be a fan now.' (Five Stars)

'Friendship, loyalty, love, betrayal... these themes and others are explored in Binchy's typical Irish and very friendly style, making it a thoroughly enjoyable book to read, and re-read.' (Five Stars)

'Maeve has a wonderful way of weaving people's lives together and getting the reader interested. I love her gentle, easy story telling. Reading her books is a wonderful way to spend your leisure time.' (Five Stars)

'I would recommend this book to anyone who is a keen observer of life, to anyone who has been through tough times and to anyone who loves to get caught up in a world of complex families, friendships, love affairs, business deals and spontaneous life changing decisions. I have never read Maeve Binchy before but I will now seek out her other novels!' (Five Stars)

'If I want to read a lovely warm, affectionate family book I usually pick up a Maeve Binchy. Tara Road, I think, is one of her best books.' (Five Stars)

'One of my all time favourite books. You will laugh and you will cry.' (Five Stars)

'Flawless writing, totally life like and believable characters with their own set of struggles, aspirations, dreams and desires... She is one heck of a writer.' (Five Stars)

'Such a great storyteller with colorful characters that you just fall in love with and others that you despise. This is a wonderful story of family and friends, love and betrayal. Over six hundred pages and it still ended too soon.' (Five Stars)

Print length

639 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Orion
Publication date

23 Dec. 2009
File size

3318 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Available on these devices

Maeve Binchy
1,150
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £4.99
Maeve Binchy
2,885
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £2.99
Maeve Binchy
707
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £5.99
Maeve Binchy
723
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £5.49
Maeve Binchy
1,483
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £0.99
Maeve Binchy
2,939
Kindle Edition
1 offer from £4.99

Product description

Review

"Her best work yet...Tara Road is like a total immersion in a colorful new world, where the last page comes too soon."—Seattle Times

"An irresistible tale."—Elle

"Engrossing."—Wall Street Journal

"A tender novel of the pleasures and pitfalls of friendship, Tara Road is an ultramodern
love story for women, about women, between women that is sure to delight."—Newsday

"Difficult to put down!"—Denver Post

"One of Binchy's best."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Amazon Review

Amazon.com Oprah Book Club(r) Selection, September 1999: Against all odds, two newlyweds manage to buy the house of their dreams. In 1982, property speculation is beginning to be a big, big thing in Dublin--and their street is very much in an up-and-coming part of town. "They laughed and hugged each other. Danny Lynch from the broken-down cottage in the back of beyond and Ria Johnson from the corner house in the big, shabby estate were not only living like gentry in a big Tara Road mansion, they were actually debating what style of dining table to buy." But for its various inhabitants, the street is to become a boulevard of dreams--some broken, others created anew. Maeve Binchy has long proved herself a secure hand at multiple story lines, and over the course of 500 satisfying pages she focuses on Ria; her best friend, Rosemary Ryan, a beautiful, endlessly selfish career woman; Gertie, the battered wife of a drunkard; and several other intriguing women, each of whom has secrets not to be shared. There is even an all-knowing fortune teller who early on hints that Ria will travel and start a successful business--two things she knows are definitely not in the offing. Yet after our supposedly happy housewife and mother of two is confronted by some inexorable home truths, a chance phone call from America will change her life, forcing her to discard her illusions about men, women and marriage and start all over again. At the same time, the Connecticut caller, Marilyn Vine, has her own lessons to learn when she and Ria swap houses for the summer. Yet there's nothing remotely preachy about this novel--even the bad guys (and yes, they're usually guys) and beautiful mistresses get to maintain some appeal. Instead, Tara Road is a stirring look at the reality behind our consuming fantasies, and a page-turner to boot. --Siobhan Carson --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Synopsis

Ria and Marilyn have never met - they live thousands of miles apart, separated by the Atlantic Ocean: one in a big, warm, Victorian house in Tara Road, Dublin, the other in a modern, open-plan house in New England. Two more unlikely friends would be hard to find: Ria's life revolves around her family and friends, while Marilyn's reserve is born of grief. But when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems the ideal solution. Along with the borrowed houses come neighbours and friends, gossip and speculation as Ria and Marilyn swap lives for the summer ... --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Synopsis

A paperback edition of a novel in which two women, one Irish and one American, set up a home exchange business and find that their unlikely friendship unveils secrets and changes lives. From the author of EVENING CLASS, THE GLASS LAKE, THE COPPER BEECH and CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

Two women - one Irish, one American - exchange homes for the summer; their unlikely and touching friendship unveils secrets and changes lives. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.

Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, wh --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Synopsis

Ria and Marilyn have never met - they live thousands of miles apart, separated by the Atlantic Ocean: one in a big, warm, Victorian house in Tara Road, Dublin, the other in a modern, open-plan house in New England. Two more unlikely friends would be hard to find: Ria's life revolves around her family and friends, while Marilyn's reserve is born of grief. But when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems the ideal solution. Along with the borrowed houses come neighbours and friends, gossip and speculation as Ria and Marilyn swap lives for the summer ... --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Synopsis

Ria and Marilyn have never met, but a chance phone call leads them to swap houses for the summer. Ria goes to America in the hope that the change will give her the courage to sort out the crisis in her life, whilst Marilyn goes to Tara Road in order to recover in peace from a secret tragedy. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Ria's mother had always been very fond of film stars. It was a matter of sadness to her that Clark Gable had died on the day Ria was born. Tyrone Power had died on the day Hilary had been born just two years earlier. But somehow that wasn't as bad. Hilary hadn't seen off the great king of cinema as Ria had. Ria could never see Gone With the Wind without feeling somehow guilty.

She told this to Ken Murray, the first boy who kissed her. She told him in the cinema. Just as he was kissing her, in fact.

"You're very boring," he said, trying to open her blouse.

"I'm not boring," Ria cried with some spirit. "Clark Gable is there on the screen and I've told you something interesting. A coincidence. It's not boring."

Ken Murray was embarrassed, as so much attention had been called to them. People were shushing them and others were laughing. Ken moved away and huddled down in his seat as if he didn't want to be seen with her.

Ria could have kicked herself. She was almost sixteen. Everyone at school liked kissing, or said they did. Now she was starting to do it and she had made such a mess of it. She reached out her hand for him.

"I thought you wanted to look at the film," he muttered.

"I thought you wanted to put your arm around me," Ria said hopefully.

He took out a bag of toffees and ate one. Without even passing her the bag. The romantic bit was over.

Sometimes you could talk to Hilary, Ria had noticed. This wasn't one of those nights.

"Should you not talk when people kiss you?" she asked her sister.

"Jesus, Mary, and Holy St. Joseph," said Hilary, who was getting dressed to go out.

"I just asked," Ria said. "You'd know, with all your experience with fellows."

Hilary looked around nervously in case anyone had heard. "Will you shut up about my experience with fellows," she hissed. "Mam will hear you and that will be the end of either of us going anywhere ever again."

Their mother had warned them many times that she was not going to stand for any cheap behavior in the family. A widow woman left with two daughters had enough to worry her without thinking that her girls were tramps and would never get a husband. She would die happy if Hilary and Ria had nice respectable men and homes of their own. Nice homes, in a classier part of Dublin, places with a garden even. Nora Johnson had great hopes that they would all be able to move a little upward. Somewhere nicer than the big, sprawling housing estate where they lived now. And the way to find a good man was not by flaunting yourself at every man that came along.

"Sorry, Hilary." Ria looked contrite. "But anyway she didn't hear, she's watching TV."

Their mother did little else during an evening. She was tired, she said, when she got back from the dry cleaners where she worked at the counter. All day on your feet, it was nice to sit down and get transported to another world. Mam wouldn't have heard anything untoward from upstairs about experience with fellows.

Hilary forgave her--after all she needed Ria to help her tonight. Mam had a system that as soon as Hilary got in she was to leave her handbag on the landing floor. That way when Mam got up to go to the bathroom in the night she'd know Hilary was home and would go to sleep happily. Sometimes it was Ria's job to leave the handbag out there at midnight, allowing Hilary to creep in at any hour, having taken only her keys and lipstick in her pocket.

"Who'll do it for me when the time comes?" Ria wondered.

"You won't need it if you're going to be blabbing and yattering on to fellows when they try to kiss you," Hilary said. "You'll not want to stay out late because you'll have nowhere to go."

"I bet I will," Ria said, but she didn't feel as confident as she sounded. There was a stinging behind her eyes.

She was sure she didn't look too bad. Her friends at school said she was very lucky to have all that dark curly hair and blue eyes. She wasn't fat or anything and her spots weren't out of control. But people didn't pick her out; she didn't have any kind of sparkle like other girls in the class did.

Hilary saw her despondent face. "Listen, you're fine, you've got naturally curly hair, that's a plus for a start. And you're small, fellows like that. It will get better. Sixteen is the worst age, no matter what they tell you." Sometimes Hilary could be very nice indeed. Usually on the nights she wanted her handbag left on the landing.

And of course Hilary was right. It did get better. Ria left school and like her elder sister took a secretarial course. There were plenty of fellows, it turned out. Nobody particularly special, but she wasn't in any rush. She would possibly travel the world before she settled down to marry.

"Not too much traveling," her mother warned.

Nora Johnson thought that men might regard travel as fast. Men preferred to marry safer, calmer women. Women who didn't go gallivanting too much. It was only sensible to have advance information about men, Nora Johnson told her daughters. This way you could go armed into the struggle. There was a hint that she may not have been adequately informed herself. The late Mr. Johnson, though he had a bright smile and wore his hat at a rakish angle, was not a good provider. He had not been a believer in life insurance policies. Nora Johnson worked in a dry cleaners and lived in a shabby, run-down housing estate. She did not want the same thing for her daughters when the time came.

"When do you think the time will come?" Ria asked Hilary.

"For what?" Hilary was frowning a lot at her reflection in the mirror. The thing about applying blusher was that you had to get it just right. Too much and you looked consumptive, too little and you looked dirty and as if you hadn't washed your face.

"I mean, when do you think either of us will get married? You know the way Mam's always talking about when the time comes."

"Well I hope it comes to me first, I'm the elder. You're not even to consider doing it ahead of me."

"No, I have nobody in mind. It's just I'd love to be able to look into the future and see where we'll be in two years' time. Wouldn't it be great if we could have a peep."

"Well, go to a fortune-teller then, if you're that anxious."

"They don't know anything." Ria was scornful.

"It depends. If you get the right one they do. A lot of the girls at work found this great one. It would make you shiver the way she knows things."

"You've never been to her?" Ria was astounded.

"Yes, I have actually, just for fun. The others were all going, I didn't want to be the only one disapproving."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What did she tell you? Don't be mean, go on." Ria's eyes were dancing.

"She said I would marry within two years. . . ."

"Great, can I be the bridesmaid?"

"And that I'd live in a place surrounded by trees and that his name began with an M, and that we'd both have good health all our lives."

"Michael, Matthew, Maurice, Marcello?" Ria rolled them all around to try them out. "How many children?"

"She said no children," Hilary said.

"You don't believe her, do you?"

"Of course I do, what's the point giving up a week's wages if I don't believe her."

"You never paid that!"

"She's good. You know, she has the gift."

"Come on."

"No, she does have a gift. All kinds of high-up people consult her. They wouldn't if she didn't have the power."

"And where did she see all this good health and the fellow called M and no children? In tea leaves?"

"No, on my hand. Look at the little lines under your little finger around the side of your hand. You've got two, I've got none."

"Hilary, don't be ridiculous. Mam has three lines. . . ."

"And remember there was another baby who died, so that makes three, right."

"You are serious! You do believe it."

"You asked so I'm telling you."

"And everyone who is going to have children has those little lines and those who aren't haven't?"

"You have to know how to look." Hilary was defensive.

"You have to know how to charge, it seems." Ria was distressed to see the normally levelheaded Hilary so easily taken in.

"It's not that dear when you consider--" Hilary began.

"Ah, Hilary, please. A week's wages to hear that kind of rubbish! Where does she live, in a penthouse?"

"No, a caravan as it happens, on a caravan halting site."

"You're joking me."

"True, she doesn't care about money. It's not a racket or a job, it's a gift."

"Yeah."

"So it looks like I can do what I like without getting pregnant." Hilary sounded very confident.

"It might be dangerous to throw out the Pill," said Ria. "I wouldn't rely totally on Madam Fifi or whatever she's called."

"Mrs. Connor."

"Mrs. Connor," Ria repeated. "Isn't that amazing? Mam used to consult St. Anne or someone when she was young. We thought that was mad enough, now it's Mrs. Connor in the halting site."

"Wait until you need to know something, you'll be along to her like a flash."

It was very hard to know what a job was going to be like until you were in it and then it was too late.

Hilary had office jobs in a bakery, a laundry, and then settled in a school. There wasn't muc... --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Maeve Binchy was born in a small village outside Dublin. She spent her childhood in Dalkey, an experience she draws on today when creating the rural villages usually at the heart of her novels. After receiving her B.A. from University College in Dublin, she began working as a teacher. The experiences she had while teaching at a Jewish school and on vacation in Israel compelled her to find work on a kibbutz. While abroad in Israel, she wrote weekly letters to her father describing life in a country constantly on the brink of war. When Binchy's father sent one of her letters to The Irish Times where it was published and earned her £18, Binchy, who had been making £16 working at the school, thought that she had truly "arrived."

Since these humble beginnings, Binchy's success has been asto --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

TARA ROAD is the unforgettable story of two women -- one from Dublin, one from New England -- who exchange houses, and lives, for one fateful summer. In turn, they are swept into very different lifestyles -- discovering deep secrets about each other . . . and themselves. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

An irresistible tale (ELLE)

Two women, one from Dublin one from New England, end up on a house swap for the summer and find their lives changed for ever. Another tale with strong female characters and the importance of friendship. As always there are a host of characters to keep the interest going and plenty to make the reader question the nature of relationships (LOVE READING)

A tender novel of the pleasures and pitfalls of friendship, TARA ROAD is an ultra-modern
love story for women, about women, between women that is sure to delight

(NEWSDAY)

Engrossing (WALL STREET JOURNAL) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0037471VW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orion; Re-issue edition (23 Dec. 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3318 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 639 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 6,950 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 5 in Irish Travel
- 44 in Continental Europe Travel
- 70 in Literary Sagas

Customer reviews:
2,238 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Maeve Binchy

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

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 Gáis 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.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

2,238 global ratings

5 star		74%
4 star		16%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

old girl

Didn't disappoint

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Read this book many years ago and I had forgotten what a great story it was.
Maeve Binchy is a good auther, I have started reading another of her books. I am hooked so will be going through the list of everything she has written 👍

Helpful

SuzieA

Author really draws you into the story & the characters

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 19 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Another great read. Good storyline & great descriptions of the characters so you feel you know them!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 12 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Amazing book from start to finish! I didn't want it to end, so many drama's, yet every day life as well. Loved it!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Read this book some 40 years ago and it was still as good this time.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

R K Staubli-Maetz

Heartwarming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 20 January 2023

Loved it

Another excellent read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 15 January 2023

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 3 January 2023

Verified Purchase

Such a great read! Thank goodness we can enjoy these marvellous books by a wonderful author-like a warm piece of clothing.

Helpful

melanie beasley

BRILLIANT!! AS GOOD AS YOU GET WITH MAEVE

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 7 January 2023

Verified Purchase

LOVED EVERY PAGE AND EVERY CHARACTER WITHIN

Helpful

Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?

Report

Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?

Report

Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?

Report

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	AbeBooks Books, art & collectables	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Download Audiobooks	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	DPReview Digital Photography	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations

Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Amazon Warehouse Deep Discounts Open-Box Products	Amazon Business Service for business customers	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food

Buy for others

Buying and sending Kindle Books to others

Follow the author

Tara Road: An emotional, uplifting story of friendship and family from a beloved #1 bestselling author Kindle Edition

Ria and Marilyn have never met, but they're about to swap lives...

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product description

Review

Amazon Review

Synopsis

Synopsis

Book Description

From the Inside Flap

Synopsis

Synopsis

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

About the Author

From the Back Cover

Review

Product details

About the author

Maeve Binchy

Customer reviews

Top reviews from United Kingdom

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.