“Scarlet Feather” didn’t feel like a usual Maeve Binchy book. On the one hand, it has all the components that make millions of readers fall in love with her novels, while on the other, it is darker in tone.
Cathy Scarlet is married to the man of her dreams. Their love story is a modern interpretation of “Romeo and Juliet”, only with a happy ending. Not everything is easy and perfect in terms of relationships with their families, but at least they are together.
Tom Feather is in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, and sometimes he can’t believe his own luck that this girl loves him back. She dreams of becoming a professional model, and even though it doesn’t go well together with his dream to have a family, he supports her.
“Scarlet Feather” is a catering company, a dream Cathy and Tom share. They finally have come to the stage of actually implementing it. The premises are found, first clients secured, first praise received. What can go wrong when good people do everything in the right way?
Maeve Binchy’s answer to that question is – absolutely everything.
As in every book by this amazing author, there are many characters in this book. Their lives are messy, they make mistakes, and life constantly puts them through all kinds of troubles. Some of them are quirky, while others are quite ordinary. Not every one of them is likeable, and not every one of them gets a second chance, a new beginning, or a happy ending. This is that special symphony of Maeve Binchy’s books you can’t have enough of while you read her stories.
“Scarlet Feather” was the winner of the 2001 WH Smith Literary Award for Fiction.
Eve's Book Diary 
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