RIA lives in a rambling, comfortable Victorian pile in a salubrious Dublin suburb, Marilyn in a spacious modern house in New England.
They've never met, but when they exchange houses for the summer - well, this is a Maeve Binchy novel, after all, and family misfortunes are part of the furniture. Tara Road is an immensely likeable story which touches on the troubles of contemporary middle-class life - rising property prices, wilful teenagers, separation and second families - but softly, with the light touch which Binchy has made her speciality. If you haven't packed a bestseller in your summer suitcase yet, pack this one, and the sun will shine wherever you are.
