From Publishers Weekly
The arrangements for celebrating Desmond and Deirdre Doyle's forthcoming silver wedding anniversary fall to Anna, their eldest daughter, who works in a pretentious London bookshop. Anna proceeds to make a list of guests, most important of whom, besides her parents and herself, are her sister Helen, brother Brendan, and three other participants in the wedding ceremony: the best man, Frank Quigley; Maureen Barry, the maid of honor; and Father Hurley. Each leisurely chapter deals with one of these characters, detailing their lives in the 25 years since the Doyle's marriage. Binchy ( Firefly Summer) exhibits her gift for astute and loving characterization as she examines the way relationships and families work. She engagingly delineates the pressures, both stated and unstated, that repel or attract, the striving for approval from parents and lovers. At the silver wedding celebration, when the obligatory photograph is taken for the family album, the reader knows well what fears and doubts, secrets and achievements lie behind the happy smiles. Readers Digest Condensed Book selection; BOMC featured alternate; major ad/promo. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"A rousing good story.... Laughter and tears: it's  what Binchy does best." -- San  Francisco Chronicle.


Review
"A rousing good story.... Laughter and tears: it's  what Binchy does best." -- San  Francisco Chronicle.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As occasion to celebrate, when Desmond and Deirdre Doyle must gather family and friends around them in remembrance of the twenty-five years of marriage they've shared. A moment of reckoning as an uneasy couple is forced to face a hapless daughter still struggling to become a nun... a son who prefers the bleak family farm in Ireland to London... the once best man, now Desmond's boss... Deirdre's bridesmaid, now a successful career woman... and their priest with his guilty secret. A time of transformation for their eldest daughter, Anna. For only Anna can confront their tarnished lives and find a truth to draw them into a circle of love that might nourish, protect, and finally heal them all.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The arrangements for celebrating Desmond and Deirdre Doyle's forthcoming silver wedding anniversary fall to Anna, their eldest daughter, who works in a pretentious London bookshop. Anna proceeds to make a list of guests, most important of whom, besides her parents and herself, are her sister Helen, brother Brendan, and three other participants in the wedding ceremony: the best man, Frank Quigley; Maureen Barry, the maid of honor; and Father Hurley. Each leisurely chapter deals with one of these characters, detailing their lives in the 25 years since the Doyle's marriage. Binchy (Firefly Summer) exhibits her gift for astute and loving characterization as she examines the way relationships and families work. She engagingly delineates the pressures, both stated and unstated, that repel or attract, the striving for approval from parents and lovers. At the silver wedding celebration, when the obligatory photograph is taken for the family album, the reader knows well what fears and doubts, secrets and achievements lie behind the happy smiles.

Robert Plunket - New York Times