Maeve Binchy was born in Dalkey, Ireland. Before becoming an internationally beloved author, she embarked on several youthful adventures, including stints at an Israeli kibbutz and as achildren's camp counselor in the United States. Her parents were so impressed with her lengthy letters hometo them that they submitted them to a newspaper, in which they were published—and so began her decades-long career as a writer of journalism, plays, nonfiction, short stories and novels.
Binchy was a journalist at the Irish Times for many years before turning her attention mainly to fiction, with which she has been wildly successful ever since the publication of her very first novel, Light a Penny Candle. Circle of Friends was made into a movie starring Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver in 1995, and this past year her short story "The Hard Core" was turned into "How About You," a movie starring Vanessa Redgrave. Tara Road was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1999, and Binchy's most recent work of fiction, Whitethorn Woods,was on the New York Times bestseller list for eight straight weeks. Heart and Soul, forthcoming from Knopf in February of this year, is already number one in Ireland, Australia and Canada. She has written articles for magazines including Gourmet; O, The Oprah Magazine; Modern Maturity; and Good Housekeeping.
Binchy is married to Gordon Snell, a writer of children's books and comedy for adults. Although she and her husband have a home in London, they spend most of their time in Dalkey, near her siblings and a stone's throw away from the house in which she grew up.
Message Edited by Bethanne on 03-30-2009 07:40 PM
