The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy

 

 

This book is a very easy and delightful read

consisting of a series of short stories about people taking trips.   

 

For example, the journey of a secretary with her boss whom she secretly admired

but found out during the trip how wrong she was,

how two travelers who got each other’s suitcases by mistake

entered the live of the stranger the moment they opened the wrong suitcase,

how two young people who seemed to have everything in common, 

interests, background & lifestyle, etc.

 realized their differences during the preparation for a trip together,

and the bittersweet story of a daughter making every effort

to persuade her Paris-loving dad

to get out of the house and visit Paris with her once again.  

 

Several of the stories are particularly heartwarming. 

 

My favourite is "A Villa for Four",

which is about a girl on holiday in Greece,

instead of joining her three friends dancing all night in discos,

helping a café drum up business

by sharing with the owners her passion for cooking.  

 

The other one is "Victor and St Valentine",

which is about a young and kind electrician

accompanying an old lady client living alone in the UK in a trip to Australia

so that her family abroad was convinced that she would be taken good care of

during the journey to see her grand-daughter

and how at the end it developed into a love story

between him and the grand-daughter.  

 

" Excitement" is an interesting story about a bored wife and her married neighbour

planning for and taking a secret trip together 

just to bump into her mum and his sister-in-law on the way. 

 

This is my first Maeve Binchy book,

gather that I will have a look at her other books soon.