A week in winter by Maeve Binchy

Orion Publishing Group, 2012. ISBN 978 1 4091 1400 0. 361 pages
Highly recommended. Stone house has been turned into a Hotel and I can just see it now set high on the cliffs on the west coast of Ireland, overlooking the windswept Atlantic ocean with its big dining room where the guests enjoy wonderful home cooked meals and huge log fires to keep them all warm and cosy.
Each chapter reveals a little about the guests who spend a week in winter at Stone house. The characters are very real we read that Henry and Nicola are burdened with a terrible secret, while cheerful nurse Winnie finds herself on the holiday from hell. John has arrived on an impulse after he missed a flight at Shannon; eccentric Freda claims to be a psychic - and a part-time hairdresser. Then there's Nora, a silent watchful older woman who seems ready to disapprove at any moment.
Sadly I read that A Week in Winter is Maeve's last novel, completed days before she died in July 2012. Her husband, Gordon Snell, agreed that publication should go ahead in the hope that all her readers will enjoy seeing her weave her magic once again. We have lost a wonderful story-teller, but her books will always be with us.
I found this feel good novel a very easy read and certainly enjoyed the characters. Maeve has such a wonderful way with words whereby one can visualise the characters and the beautiful scenery. Highly recommended: no wonder it is the number one bestseller.
Gabriela Weber