Minding Frankie

New York: Knopf, 2011. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. A crisp clean first edition, (as stated) no markings throughout: Reading a Maeve Binchy novel is like settling in for a cozy visit with an o ld friend. In vintage Binchy style, a cast of colorfully eccentric characte rs living in a snug Dublin neighborhood seamlessly weave in and out of each other's lives, united by family, faith, friendship, and community. When a young alcoholic learns he has fathered a child with a dying woman, he must step into the role of father, protector, and provider to his infant daughte r, Frankie, in a matter of weeks. Determined to succeed, though totally unp repared for his new responsibilities, Noel gets an essential assist from hi s visiting American cousin. Exercising her tremendous gifts of organization and insight, Emily cobbles together a neighborhood support system, featuri ng a few familiar faces from previous Binchy books. As everybody begins to mind Frankie, a suspicious social worker pokes her nose in where it doesn't belong, attempting to dredge up any dirt she can on Noel and his slightly unorthodox network of babysitters. Readers will need a box of tissues handy as the good-hearted residents of St. Jarlath's Crescent prove that it does indeed take a village to raise a child. --Margaret Flanagan Review 'One of Binchy's best works. She harmoniously handles a diverse group of ch aracters, the good deeds that characterize life in Ireland are believable, and the ending is sweet. One hopes to find Frankie in one of Binchy's futur e novels.' --Susan Rogers, Newark Star-Ledger   'Binchy's world view is a large, benevolent one, and the reader is happier for it . . . bless her big Irish heart.' -.