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Tuesday 31 July 2012

No Fifty Shades of Grey here

Image from Mail Online



The Queen of girly Irish fiction - Maeve Binchy died last night 30th July aged 72 years. A journalist, short story writer and best-selling novelist, she was famous for her warm stories about love, life and relationships. A far cry from the more recent bestsellers like Fifty Shades of Grey. You could almost describe reading one of her books as being with a good friend; you laughed, you cried, experienced romance, everyday life and all the baggage that comes with it. Trending all over the internet, she has received kind words from all over the globe and from every walk of life. Sounds about right.



  • She wrote her first novel at the age of 43
  • A journalist at the Irish Times, she eventually became its women’s editor
  • Her first novel - Light a Penny Candle was published in 1982
  • She had 16 novels translated into 30 languages
  • Sold 40 million copies worldwide
  • One book was developed into the 1995 film Circle of Friends starring Minnie Driver and Chris O'Connell
  • She was born in Dalkey in Co Dublin and studied at UCD
  • She announced her retirement in 2000
  • But her last novel Minding Frankie was published in 2010
  • She received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards in 2010
  • Throughout her career she made Britain's top 10 most popular writers, the New York Times' Best-seller List and even appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

RIP Maeve, you deserve it.

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