Tara Road Book Summary

In 'Tara Road', two women from vastly different backgrounds find their lives intertwined when one, Ria, decides to exchange homes for the summer with the other, a glamorous American. This unexpected swap leads them to confront personal struggles and profound life changes, as they explore the complexities of love, loss, and friendship. The quaint charm of Ria's Irish home and the bustling vibe of America provide a stunning backdrop for self-discovery. As their lives unravel and intertwine from afar, readers are taken on an emotional journey filled with unexpected twists. Will they find what they are truly searching for, and how will this experience change them forever?

By Maeve Binchy

Published: 2007

"'Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust that the net will appear.'"

Book Review of Tara Road

Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed. Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, whom Ria has begun to miss terribly. At the end of the summer, the women at last meet face-to-face. Having learned a great deal, about themselves and about each other, they find that they have become, firmly and forever, good friends. A moving story rendered with the deft touch of a master artisan, Tara Road is Maeve Binchy at her very best—utterly beautiful, hauntingly unforgettable, entirely original, and wholly enjoyable.

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'Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and trust that the net will appear.'

Tara Road

By Maeve Binchy