Nights of Rain and Stars

After my boring Quentins reading experience, I did not have too many expectations for this book. And I was right not to do so.

This book runs along the same lines as Quentins only on a more international scale.

The story is set in Aghia Anna – a small island of the Greek coast, where a bunch of tourists come together when there is a local tragedy. All these people are running away from some problems in their lives, this tragedy leads to them bonding with each other and sharing their life stories, and eventually helps them resolve their issues. There are also a couple of wise locals who help them in this process.

On the face of it, the story sounds really good, and there was scope to do a lot with it. Unfortunately, here again Binchy’s writing falls flat. So flat, in fact that I started having doubts whether the book was really written by her at all or whether somebody ghost wrote it ala some James Patterson books.

I have never really faulted Binchy on her writing or the pace of her novels. But this one fails on both counts. The book moves at a snail’s pace, and the story is so weak that it could have easily been made into a short story.

Couple of things I did like:

• It was not saccharine sweet.
• The loose ends are not quite so neatly tied up. Not everyone has a happy ending. However, the book does end on a hopeful note for everyone, with a feel good but not overly contrived ending.

However, overall this has been another disappointing read for me, and I am fast losing my old love for Binchy’s books. This book is strictly for hard-core Binchy lovers.