Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather are on the brink of realising their dream: to open a catering company in the heart of Dublin, the eponymous
Scarlet Feather. Friends since college, Cathy and Tom are sure of each other and united in their shared goal, but not everyone around them is so supportive of their ambitions.
A disapproving mother-in-law, an overworked husband, a distracted girlfriend and terrible twins, hell-bent on creating as much havoc and asking as many difficult (yet humorous) questions as they possibly can, stir up recipes for trouble. Passion could very well be a feature on the menu as Tom and Cathy turn increasingly to each other for support and grow ever closer in their shared aim of making Scarlet Feather the best catering company Dublin has ever seen.
In Scarlet Feather Binchy once more does what she does best: introducing a cast of characters whose personalities develop gently and whose lives are carefully and almost imperceptibly blended into the mix of love affairs, heartache, humour and family ties. One of the finest aspects of Binchy's feather-light touch is that it's almost possible to forget that you are reading a work of fiction and feel instead as if you are amongst a group of friends. --Emily Lowson
SCARLET FEATHER has all the distinguishing Binchy characteristics: human interest, pacy plot, judicious humour, warm sentiment ... You can see why, for a legion of female readers, Maeve Binchy is a one-woman opiate of the people (EVENING STANDARD)
This is a wonderfully warm-hearted book with an endearing cast of characters and the Irish atmosphere that is Maeve Binchy's trademark (THE LADY)
Maeve is just like a good fisherwoman: she teases you, reels you in and by the time you try to get away, you are well and truly hooked. I literally could not put the book down by the time I got to the last quarter (SUNDAY EXPRESS)
This is Binchy at her finest (WOMAN AND HOME)
If you're a lover of Maeve Binchy's warm, engrossing novels, you're in for a treat ... [a] tale of love, heartbreak and laugher. You'll be hooked by the characters from the start and the fine storytelling simply sweeps you along (WOMAN'S REALM)
The storytelling is, as always, confident, sharp and funny (SUNDAY TIMES)
SCARLET FEATHER has that classic Maeve Binchy component: the readability factor. And if leisure palls for Maeve, it's blindingly apparent there are more novels inside her. The penny candle's still burning (IRISH INDEPENDENT)
What is Maeve Binchy's magic? Every time she publishes a novel the race is on to the armchair or the poolside seat, telephones fall eerily silent ... Her great gift is to suck her reader into the drama of everyday lives without fuss ... She relies on dialogue and on keeping up a cracking pace (Elizabeth Buchan DAILY MAIL)
Yet again she has created a story of unexpected twists and turns in the lives of wholly believable people with whom you can't help feeling involved (THE OLDIE)
Her story-telling talents are never in question ... Scarlet Feather is one of Binchy's best. Reading it is as comforting as curling up by a fire with cocoa, toast and treacle (BOOKS IRELAND)
The words "Irish warmth" are repeatedly used in reference to a Binchy novel and I believe that this keynote of authorial warmth is one of the compelling aspects of her writing ... Binchy is a consummate storyteller who involves the reader in the world she creates ... Binchy is a Dickens: she writes about the dilemmas of human beings with a backdrop which describes the manners and morals of a society ... the Binchy public will not be disappointed at storyline or resolution (IRISH TIMES)
Maeve is a storyteller, she has an ear for dialogue and an eye for character and she's employed these gifts to their full potential ... SCARLET FEATHER has that classic Maeve Binchy component: the readability factor (IRISH INDEPENDENT)
Drama, humour, warmth and great characters - it's what we expect from Maeve Binchy, one of the world's best-loved writers (WOMAN'S WEEKLY)