Scarlet Feather is the featured book at Cook the Books

Maeve Binchy was a wonderful storyteller.  She could weave a plot with so many characters, all their lives intersecting with one another and yet, you wouldn’t be confused about what was going on in their lives. It was a sad day when she died.  Ireland lost a treasure.

I have read every single book Binchy has published. Scarlet Feather wasn’t my favorite of her books but I  did like the story line and the characters.  Well, most of the characters.

Cathy’s husband was certainly not a likable guy. You wondered how that marriage could work out as Neil never put Cathy first.

Now, Cathy and Tom have a natural friendship and great chemistry. From the beginning I was wondering why they weren’t a couple instead of Cathy being married to Neil and Tom living with Marcella. They support each other, work hard to make their business a success and share love and friendship with many friends. If you read Tara Road (another fat book I loved by Binchy) you’ll remember some of those characters – they have parts in this book as well.

I think one thing I love about this book (and most of her other books) is the portrayal of the average person. Who hasn’t had frustrations with their parents or disagreements with a mother-in-law (don’t get me started). It’s not a detective story or a thriller where sensational things happen. It’s a tale you can immerse yourself in as you can see some of those things happening to you. It’s everyday life.

The book is summarized on the Cook the Books site so I won’t go into details about that. Plus I won’t give spoilers.

So much food is mentioned in this book but that’s to be expected since our main characters own a catering company. We have vegetables and lamb bone for soup, Wicklow Lamb, Irish Salmon, loads of lobster and mussels, rich Chocolate Cake, fruit pavlova, vegetarian goulash and I could go on and on.

My representative dish is going to be a Landlocked Paella. Not your traditional seafood Paella because we have overloaded on salmon lately. Needed a break from the sea.

For the recipe and my I Heart Cooking linkup please visit my food blog, Squirrel Head Manor.

It’s been fun revisiting this book. This novel is the selection at Cook the Books, hosted this by Claudia this time. Thanks to Claudia who writes at Honey from the Rock for choosing a Binchy novel.

There is still time to hook up if you want to participate. The info may be found HERE.

Also linking up with Joy’s British Isles Friday and Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking Series.