As her parents were catholic, she attended Holy Child Convent in Killiney and earned a Bachelor’s in history for University of College Dublin. She was the oldest of four siblings including one brother and two sisters. Ireland’s most loved writer was born on in Dalkey, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland. Her work has been translated in 37 languages with sales number of forty million copies worldwide.ĭuring the poll for World Book Day in 2000, she finished third ahead of famed writers like Charles Dickens and Stephen King. She was known for creating stories with descriptive characters, in depth human nature and clever surprise endings. She was also a speaker, loved for her humorous take on life in small towns of Ireland. Sometimes the Miss Sheedys, three sisters who owned the house and were ancient, let her play at dressing up in their old clothes.Maeve Binchy was a columnist, playwright, short story writer, and novelist. Chicky loved to play in its huge overgrown garden. Still, there were caves to explore, cliffs to climb, birds’ nests to discover, and wild sheep with great curly horns to investigate. Stoneybridge was a paradise for children during the summer, but summer in the West of Ireland was short, and most of the time it was wet and wild and lonely on the Atlantic coast. Chicky had names for all the hens, and no one could tell her when one had been taken to provide a Sunday lunch They always pretended it was a shop chicken, but Chicky always knew.

A serious little girl pouring out meal for the baby chickens or collecting the fresh eggs each day, always saying, “chuck, chuck, chuck,” soothingly into the feathers as she worked.

Not that they ever called her Geraldine, she was Chicky as far back as anyone could remember. The boys helped their father in the fields, mending fences, bringing the cows back to be milked, digging drills of potatoes Mary fed the calves, Kathleen baked the bread, and Geraldine did the hens. Here’s how it begins:Įveryone had their own job to do on the Ryans’ farm in Stoneybridge. Like her earlier books, “A Week in Winter” is set in Ireland, features an ensemble cast and is written with warmth and optimism. Irish writer Maeve Binchy died just a few weeks after finishing her 17th novel.

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy