Maeve Binchy: an Irish passion

Maeve Binchy, best-selling author of Tara Road, Circle of Friends and Scarlet Feather, talks to iVillage

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iVillage: What are your five favourite things about Ireland?

Maeve Binchy: That's easy! They are:

  • Everyone talks to each other very easily without waiting to be introduced.
  • You are never very far from the sea; the country takes only three hours to cross from east to west.
  • We have discovered that our seas, lakes and rivers are full of gorgeous fish, which we eat in huge quantities.
  • The place is full of energetic, laughing, confident, happy young people.
  • Nobody gets annoyed by the unexpectedness of the weather, and it's never extreme. We have no heat waves, no blizzards: just soft harmless rain and mild sunshine.

    iVillage: Are your favourite things in Scarlet Feather?

    Maeve Binchy: Yes, indeed. Cathy and Tom, the two young caterers, are full of confidence and energy; they know of every fish that ever swam and a dozen different ways of cooking all of them. They can leave Dublin and be in the countryside in under an hour. They are at ease talking to all kinds of people and feel part of an energetic country that is looking forward with hope.

    Watch and learn

    iVillage: Do you find that you learn something new with each book? If so, what did you learn writing Scarlet Feather?

    Maeve Binchy: That's true: you do learn with each book. In Scarlet Feather I think I learned a lot about cooking because I have two friends who are caterers. And they taught me a lot. I learned what an exhausting career it must be, trying to cope with the tensions and dramas at every catered event. I have new respect for anyone who puts food in front of others for a living.

    iVillage: We all love your insight into human relationships - how and when did you discover you had a talent for telling their stories?

    Maeve Binchy: I am very inquisitive and over-interested in other peoples' lives and problems. I eavesdrop whenever I can, never hang up on a crossed line on the telephone. I feel I could run the world if someone asked me to do so. I don't think that anyone is dull; I could sit forever in a shopping mall or an airport just watching people. There's a story in everyone: a hope, a dream, a disappointment. When I'm writing, I pretend that I'm writing a letter to a friend. It's very pleasing that so many people seem to want to read the letter!

    Time to retire

    iVillage: What have you most wanted to do (but haven't had time for) that you want to do in retirement?

    Maeve Binchy: I am full of ideas and my mind has totally refused to retire. I want to go through all my boxes of files and memorabilia. And also, I hope to sit in our garden with my husband and read thrillers, and we might go on long vacations rather than having to race back and get down to work. I'd love to wake up one morning and know that I didn't have to get up that moment!