THIS YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENT

Book ID/图书代码： 03035007B18493

English Summary/英文概要： The book is compiled of fifteen stories based loosely on the theme of Christmas. There are all types of characters: a nervous step-mother, a philandering husband, an unsure mistress, lonely senior citizens. These are believable people and jump at you right off the pages. Ms. Binchy brings a feel of warmth or reality to these stories. They evoke feelings of joy, sadness, resignation. But the main theme seems to be one of hope and looking forward to new beginnings. This book could be recommend to anyone who likes believable characters and gripping stories. It is great for a year-round read, not just Christmas Stories about ordinary people going about ordinary lives will always be fascinating when told by a writer blessed with extraordinary talent, insight, and compassion. This Year It Will Be Different, is a stunning new work that brings us the magic and spirit of Christmas in fifteen stories filled with Maeve Binchy’s trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. Instead of nostalgia, Binchy evokes contemporary life; instead of Christmas homilies, she offers truth; and instead of sugarplums, she brings us the nourishment of holidays that precipitate change, growth, and new beginnings. The stories in This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evoke many lives during the one holiday of the year when feelings cannot be easily hidden: step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between ’the other woman’ and his wife; a child caught in the grown-up tug-of-war. The time of year may be magical, imbued with personal meaning, but the situations are universal, and Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all.
Filled with Maeve Binchy’s trademark wit and true storytelling genius, THIS YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENT powerfully evokes the lives of of wives, husbands, children, friends and lovers, all set during the one holiday when feelings cannot easily be hidden. There are step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman and his wife; a child caught up in a grown-up tug-of-war...The festive season may be magical, but it can also be a time of family difficulties, a time to reflect on relationships; a time of change.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 本書集合了有關耶誕節的15個短篇故事。故事中有各種不同的人物，如緊張的後媽，總是調戲其他女人的丈夫，不安的情婦，寂寞的老年人。賓奇描寫得如此真實，就像我們身邊的人一樣，還寫地非常地溫柔溫和。故事反應出人生的快樂、悲哀和順從。故事雖不一樣，但主題都是尋找更多希望和期待新的開始。每個喜歡真實人物和感人故事的讀者都會喜歡這本書的。作者以她的才華和獨到的視角描寫了平凡人的平凡故事，不只是耶誕節，整個一年都適合閱讀！這15個故事裡蘊藏了作者的智慧、魅力和寫作的天賦，她並不復古，沒有膩人的甜蜜，而是訴說真理，為假期提供給養，創造改變、成長的機會，期盼新的開端。重新組成的家庭為開銷頭疼不已，結婚多年的夫婦姻親間有矛盾，迷茫的丈夫在自己妻子和別的女人間不知該如何選擇，時間是個神奇的東西，這些人的問題可能有一定特殊性，但很多問題全球都會發生，賓奇提醒我們關注這些人，這也是在關注我們自己。(Celia)

Awards/获奖情况：現居星期泰晤士報（The Sunday Times）暢銷書榜首
目前在西方書市情況：A stellar performance from Maeve Binchy’s This Year it Will be Different sees Orion secure their tenth number one in 11 weeks. Binchy’s collection of Christmas-themed short-stories sold 38,596 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market during the seven days to 13th September, to take top spot from Orion stablemate Linwood Barclay’s No Time for Goodbye.
In This Year It Will Be Different Christmas is the focal point for 20 short stories by Maeve Binchy. Her theme is revelation and change, however small. An acute reader of the human psyche, she homes in on families, the elderly, lovers, couples and the solitary as they prepare for the festivities. Binchy knows her territory and sticks to it. The stories are short, but with her gift for effortless characterisation and homely detail, she evokes the power shifts in families, unwelcome discoveries, conspiracies, affairs, forgiveness, sorrow and the rebirth of optimism with her usual warmth and sympathy.--- The Sunday Times

About the Author/作者介绍： Maeve Binchy (born May 28, 1940, Dalkey, Ireland) is an Irish novelist, newspaper columnist and speaker. Educated at University College Dublin, she worked as a teacher, then a journalist at The Irish Times and later become a writer of novels and short stories. Many of her novels are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between urban and rural life, the contrasts between England and Ireland, and the dramatic changes in Ireland between World War II and the present day. Her novel Circle of Friends was made into a 1995 Hollywood movie starring Chris O’Donnell and Minnie Driver with a radical change of ending. Binchy announced in 2000 that she would not be going on tours with any more novels, but would be devoting her time to other activities, and to her English-born husband, Gordon Snell, a children’s author. However, she has written three further novels since then - Quentins, Night of Rain and Stars and Whitethorn Woods.
In 1978, Binchy won a Jacob’s Award for her play, Deeply Regretted By. A second award went to the lead actor, Donall Farmer.
現代愛爾蘭版珍奧斯汀。她的長篇小說《他們愛的故事》（Circle of Friends）曾被好萊塢拍成電影，賓奇的故事背景總是設於 20 紀的愛爾蘭，筆觸非常幽默，習慣以女性角色為主軸，從女主人翁的視角做為出發點，關心的議題包括：禁果、婚姻、婚外情、離婚……等。賓奇的文學貼近現實，因此她的作品並不避談宗教、墮胎、財務危機乃至破產的挑戰等問題。愛爾蘭有一種流浪說書人的古老行業，聽眾可以憑他們對故事的滿意度掏腰包賞錢。賓奇說她從小就嚮往著自己有一天可以當個專業的流浪說書人，而她的兩個妹妹和一個弟弟便是她訓練自己說書能力最佳的對象。

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：

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