#27

Maeve Binchy is a wonderful author and she didn't disappoint me with her latest, "Minding Frankie." She took us back to an area of Dublin that we've become familiar with since she wrote "Tara Road." Some of the same characters have come back in many of her last 5 or 6 novels. This time we got to know some new ones and they tied in nicely. Stella is dying and she's pregnant. She wants the father of the baby to raise it but he doesn't know about the baby until just a few weeks before Stella is to give birth. They were both drunk on the night of conception and he doesn't remember. The baby is a girl and her name is to be Frankie. Noel is the father and to be a good one he has to change his life. No more drinking and he must better his life by getting a better education. To do all this he needs a good support system and that comes from his newly discovered American cousin who has come to Ireland to find her roots, his parents, and his neighbors. What a great story! Hoping for many more novels that take us back to Dublin.

Tomorrow is my granddaughter's 16th birthday. Oh my! Where did the time go. Driving and her trip to Germany this summer are foremost on her mind right now. Takes me back to that time in my life. What great memories!