The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy

Title: The Return Journey

Author: Maeve Binchy

# pages: 214

Date published: 1998

Genre: short stories

Challenge(s): Well-Rounded Challenge, 888, A Novel Challenge Mini Challenge #1 (read a short story)

Rating:

(good)

Synopsis (from Barnes&Noble.com): In these powerful, poignant tales, the New York Times bestselling author of Evening Class and Tara Road once again reveals her unrivaled understanding of matters of the heart. Here are sons and lovers, daughters and strangers, husbands and wives in their infinite variety--powerfully compelling stories of love and loss, revelation and reconciliation.

A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip--.An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors--. A pair of star-crossed travelers take each other's bags, and then learn that when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life.-- In their company are many more journeys of hope and discovery--unforgettable slices of life from the incomparable Maeve Binchy.

Random Thoughts: The Return Journey is a collection of short stories. I liked most of the stories, but of course, I liked some better than others. Here are some of my favorite ones:

Miss Vogel’s Vacation: Miss Vogel is the caretaker of an apartment building in New York City filled with a lot of self-absorbed wealthy people. She takes care of all of them—sending letters, walking dogs, and watering their plants. Especially they go on vacation. But Miss Vogel has never had a vacation of her own. At least she hadn’t until she arranges for a car service to come pick up all of her charge’s and deliver them to the airport over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and meets Frank. Frank suggests that they have their own vacation right there in their own city. Miss Vogel and Frank have a lovely time exploring the city they live in while all of Miss Vogel’s tenets travel far and wide, but have a terrible time.

Package Tour: When new lovers find out that they do not pack the same way on vacation (she travels with a carry-on bag only, he, on the other hand, will absolutely not travel with any less than 12 pairs of spare underwear) they realize how absolutely incompatible not only their luggage requirements are, but also life requirements.

Victor and St. Valentine: A boy learns from his romantic father how to treat a woman like a queen on Valentine’s Day, but when the boy grows up he is repeatedly criticized for being too romantic. Mrs. Todd, an elderly woman, hires Victor to set up a security system in her apartment and they become friends. Mrs. Todd wants to go to Australia to visit her granddaughter, but she doesn’t want to go alone. Victor offers to go with her and meets the woman of his dreams.

Overall, a nice, enjoyable collection of short stories.

Let’s give people a variety of opinions! If you've reviewed this book (or a book by this author), leave me a link to your review in the comments and I'll link to your review, too!