Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780525946823
ISBN number: 0525946829
Label: Dutton Adult
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 359
Printing Date: October 28, 2002
Publishing house: Dutton Adult
Release Date: October 28, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 589845
Studio: Dutton Adult
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Maeve Binchy follows the enormous sucess of Scarlet Feather with a new book, Quentins, that delivers the hallmark storytelling that has kept her millions of fans happy for more than twenty years.
Is it possible to tell the story of a generation and a city through the history of a restaurant? Ella Brady thinks so. She wants to film a documentary about Quentins that will capture the spirit of Dublin from the 1970s to the present day. After all, the restaurant saw the people of a city become more confident in everything, from their lifestyles to the food that they chose to eat. And Quentins has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, of betrayal, of revenge; of times when it looked ready for sucess and of times when it seemed as if it must close in failure.
In Maeve Binchy's magical new book you will meet new friends and old. The twins from Scarlet Feather, Signora from Evening Class, and Ria from Tara Road all drop by, as do a host of new friends-Mon, the ever-cheerful Australian waitress, and Blouse Brennan, whose simplicity disguises a sharp mind and a heart of gold.
Quentins is presided over by the apparently unflappable Patrick and Brenda Brennan, whose efforts have made the place a legend in the life of Dubliners and visitors alike. But even the Brennans have a story, and a problem, that is hidden from the public gaze.
As Ella uncovers more and more of what has gone on at Quentins, she begins to question the wisdom of capturing it all in a documentary. Are there some stories that are too sacred to be told, some secrets that must be kept? By getting to know the people that pass through the doors of Quentins, Ella has finally gotten to know herself.
Amazon.com Review:
In Maeve Binchy's timely and topical tale, Quentins, Ella Brady is a documentary filmmaker who wants to bring the tale of the eponymous Dublin restaurant to the screen. Quentins has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years and has become the meeting point for a lot of characters, including some familiar faces from previous Binchy novels. As Ella makes more and more headway with her documentary, the secrets, betrayals, and stories of love that emerge make her question whether or not she wants to bring the tale of Quentins to the screen after all; especially as she is also forced to confront a devastating dilemma from her own past.
Regarded by many as the true queen of the romantic Irish drama, Binchy has once again produced another fine page-turner that will please her army of loyal fans and hopefully win her many more. She has a real eye for character and exploring the often painful choices people are forced to make in their everyday lives. This is a tale of normal people, ordinary folk and the heartaches that have made them who they are. Fans will welcome the return of some familiar Binchy characters and Ella is a strong, likeable heroine, a woman who, in exploring the lives of these people, is forced to consider some choices she has made in her own life. So make a reservation at Quentins, sit back, and relax--you'll be in very good company. --Jane Warren, Amazon.co.uk
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Ella Brady, heartbroken after her relationship with already-married financier Don Richardson ends in humiliation and betrayal, discovers Quentins purely by chance. Desperate for work to recover money that Don stole from her family and take her mind off the complicated problems the doomed relationship brought her, she agrees to work with a filmmaker friend on a documentary about this longstanding Dublin restaurant. As she unravels the story behind Quentins and learns more about the myriad individuals whose lives have been impacted by this one-of-a-kind restaurant, her life is changed in ways she could never have expected.
The best thing about "Quentins" is the way it introduces readers to a richly populated character world. Binchy's introduction of new characters is usually deft and well-timed-it was satisfying to find an author who (mostly) managed to juggle an ever-growing cast of characters in a believable and interesting way. Of course, as is the case with all but the most perfect books, there are a few portions of "Quentins" where readers will want to skip ahead to the subsequent interesting part, but for every one of the dull sections, there is an especially touching or satisfying part that nearly makes up for it. Characters from other Binchy books (Cathy, Tom and the twins from "Scarlet Feather", Ria from "Tara Road" and Nora from "Evening Class") are included in "Quentins," and although their appearances are typically low-key, they perfectly "round out" the circle of friends at Quentins.
Fans of Maeve Binchy's warm, realistic sagas will find "Quentins" to be the perfect novel to curl up in bed with and will happily ignore a few slow pages when the payoff is total immersion in another engrossing Irish world.
Rated by buyers -
This novel is a series of vignettes of different people's lives and somehow, all the pivotal points in their lives have a thread that runs through the restaurant called Quentins. This is a delightful tale, full of life, love and hope. Betrayal, rejection and greed are also present. It is a story of fathers, sons, mother and daughters, wives and husbands, friends and lovers. It is moreover a story of closed doors and open hearts. There is the betrayed lover, the greedy family, those with no hope, those with the courage to begin anew and those with only hidden promise. Somehow Maeve Binchy draws them all together and tells a heart warming story of Irish life in a small town. This seemed a bit of a different take from Maeve Binchy from her previous novels, but no less enjoyable.
Rated by buyers 
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I finally finished this one about a month after I started it. I bought the book in hardback for a few bucks off a table of used books in a general store in downstate Indiana. The book was in fine condition. The story was not.
"Quentins" tells the story of a young Irish woman's adventures in love and documentary filmmaking. Protagonist Ella Brady tries to rebound from a bad love affair by joining a small filmmaking crew who sets out to tell the story of Dublin's last 30 years through the customers and crew of a popular restaurant. The very first reel is interesting from a soap operaish perspective. Reel Two is stultifyingly boring as the we slog through a series of vignettes meant to be the content of the documentary. The third reel is disappointingly predictable.
Peeking out of this stew is a moderately interesting story of how Quentins came to be, from the perspectives of ownership, operation, and its grammatically-incorrect name. Like eating an unappetizing meal, I picked at this one for a long time, before mom yelled at me (metaphorically) to clean my plate, at which time I force fed myself the last 100 or so pages, just so I could show you this clean, shiny review and move onto dessert (which I'm eating, I mean reading, now).
Two stars only for this thin gruel. For Binchy devotees only, and I expect even some of them will be disappointed. I only moderately liked Binchy's "Tara Road" (an Oprah book, no less), but "Quentins" fell well short of that effort.
Rated by buyers -
I really enjoyed this book, especially how it brought together so many characters from Ms. Binchy's other books. I highly recommend it for Maeve Binchy fans.
Rated by buyers 
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I love Maeve Binchy books, but there are so many little inconsistencies in this one, it drove me nuts. Quentins was supposed to have been open and run for years. Nora met Aidan when she was her in 50s, the same age as Brenda, yet in Quentin's Brenda's nephew is referred to as a baby near the end of the book and he would have been in his 20s or 30s by then. Quentin was listed as being in his 40s when he should have been in his 50s. The town in Italy where Nora lived was misspelled. Mon is called Mon Harris in part of the book and her future husband is Mr. Hays, then he becomes Mr. Harris. Deirdre, who doesn't really know Brenda somehow knows she can read lips. Ella is supposedly only in New York for less than two weeks. At this time Cathy and Tom are not married and the baby is two months away, but later, when only a few days have passed it says they are married and the baby is due any minute. Ella also has worked at Colm's restaurant, but then has to go and hang out with him to see what a day in the restaurant is like? Ella and Derry never go to Quentins to work, but Quentin supposedly watches them coming in and working on the movie. Ella's father makes the comment that he knows Mike Martin, but later when he comes to their house, he doesn't know him? I can't believe this wasn't edited any better than this. I was highly disappointed with all the little errors, but, I love the characters and was happy to see them all again.
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