“Her bed felt huge and empty now, and when she slept, she did so with her arm around a pillow. She dreamed of him almost every night, sometimes good dreams of happy days and joyful times; often they were terrible dreams of abandonment, loss and sorrow. She didn't know which was worse: every morning she woke afresh to the knowledge that he was gone and he would never come back. It would never be all right again.”

Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker

Maeve Binchy was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Born Anne Maeve Binchy Snell, she wrote in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and became known for fiction rooted in Irish life. Her novels often portray small-town Ireland with sympathy and a light, humorous touch, and many end with a surprise. They were translated into 37 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at 73 in 2012 was widely mourned in Ireland, where she was regarded as a much loved and easily recognised writer.