An emotional story of love, betrayal, friendship, and family from #1 New York Times bestselling author Maeve Binchy.

David Power and Clare O'Brien both grew up dreaming of escape from the battered seaside town of Castlebay, Ireland, but they might as well have had the ocean between them. David is the cherished son of a prosperous doctor, while Clare lives with her large family behind their faltering store, longing for a moment of quiet to study. When they both go to university in Dublin—he as a matter of course, she on a hard-won scholarship—their worlds collide. They find freedom in each other—until the families, lovers, and secrets they left in Castlebay come back to haunt them...

“Laughter and tears, it’s what Binchy does best.”—San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

“The Castlebay Maeve Binchy creates is a marvelous place.”—The New York Times Book Review

First published in paperback in 1987, this national bestseller remains one of Binchy's most beloved works. Divided by class, drawn together by desire, Clare and David found a love that knew no barriers--in a world determined to keep them apart.

Praise for Maeve Binchy

“A remarkably gifted writer...a wonderful student of human nature.”—The New York Times Book Review 

“Reading one of Maeve Binchy’s novels is like coming home.”—The Washington Post

“Binchy is a grand storyteller in the finest Irish tradition…she writes from the heart.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer 

“Binchy’s genius is transforming storytelling into art.”—San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

“Binchy’s tales combine warmth and spunk in a quintessentially Celtic way...In the field of women’s popular fiction, the Dublin storyteller sticks out like a faultless solitaire on a Woolworth’s jewelry counter.”—Chicago Tribune