‘I still think, as I did when I was twenty, that I could run everybody else’s life. Not my own of course, as my own is deep confusion to me.’

This uplifting biography, illustrated with 50 photographs, reveals that the inspiration for many of Maeve Binchy’s tales of love, life and loss, which sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, came from her own hard-won experience growing up in Ireland. In the land of her birth, setting for her novels, she endured a difficult adolescence and famously lost her faith before coming to terms with who she was and expressing, at last, the qualities that would come to define her both as writer and woman.

‘A remarkable insight into the private life of the much-loved author.’ Irish Independent

‘This sensitive and comprehensive biography is a celebration of the talent, optimism and humanity of a much-loved author who brought so much pleasure to many.’ Good Book Guide

‘This joy of a biography is an absolute must for fans of the treasured Irish author. Written with warmth, wit and many a colourful anecdote … we discover how the self-consciously tall teenager who despaired that she was fat and that no boys ever asked her to dance, discovered her own worth, found true love and blossomed into the wonderful writer she was destined to be. A vivid portrait of a generous-hearted, funny and consummate storyteller.’ Hello Magazine

‘A loving tribute to the popular Irish writer: Piers Dudgeon, who has written biographies of writers Barbara Taylor Bradford, J.M. Barrie and Daphne du Maurier, does a deft job juxtaposing the allegorical nature of Binchy’s fiction to events in her life... Dudgeon delivers a love letter penned to the late author and her fiction... Fans will find new insight to their favorite Binchy works.’ USA Today

‘Dudgeon paints Binchy as a lively and vivacious lover of life in this warm and often humorous record of a woman who was determined to be her own person.’ Irish Post