SOURCE: “Maeve Binchy,” in Europe, Vol. 345, April, 1995, pp. 22–25.

In the following interview, Binchy discusses her novels, her success with writing, and her journalism background.

The Irish author Maeve Binchy has a long list of international best-sellers to her name (Light a Penny Candle, London Transports, Firefly Summer, Silver Wedding, The Lilac Bus). Her latest book The Glass Lake was published last month in the U. S. by Delacorte Press.

Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. A number have been made into films, including Circle of Friends, which has just been released in the U. S. by Savoy Pictures.

Maeve Binchy, 54, was born in Dalkey, near Dublin (where she still lives with her husband, writer and broadcaster Gordon Snell). She was educated at a Roman Catholic girls' school and University College, Dublin, before becoming a teacher at a Jewish girls' school in Dublin.

A letter to her...