In the months that follow, Tom and Cathy weather the ups and downs of founding a small business, soothe many a client's fragile ego, plan and pull off a fairy-tale wedding, minister to two of the most appealingly waifish children this side of Dickens, and generally work themselves to the bone-all the while producing some of the most exquisite food Dublin has ever seen.īinchy is a master spinner of tales, the kind of storyteller who captures the rich tapestry of relationships at work in even the most ordinary of lives. But as they soon learn, chasing a dream demands far more than just cream puffs and canapés. When the perfect location finally becomes available at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, they jump straight into renovations, ignoring the owner's mysterious eagerness to sell. Cathy Scarlet and her partner Tom Feather had wanted to open their own catering firm ever since they attended college together. Any book that will bring seniors together, provide entertainment, companionship and purpose is all right by me.'Whatever made us think that a catering business had anything to do with producing food?' asks the exasperated heroine of Maeve Binchy's Scarlet Feather.

They chose another Binchy book for February. They rooted for the possible romantic ending. They commiserated over the relationship problems. They wanted the catering company to do well.

They thought the characters had fine moral fibre. Each and every one of them loved this book. Luckily, Binchy does a pretty good job of creating supporting characters who are interesting - a pair of nine-year-old twins Cathy's parents (working class, hard working, kind and fair) - but not really enough to sustain an almost 500 page novel.So, why did I give this book a decent review rating? The average age at the book club appears to be about 75. Unfortunately, I found both main characters to be completely unlikeable - uncommunicative, judgemental, childish. The book follows 'a year in the life' - their jobs, their relationships, their families.

Tom Feather and Cathy Scarlet, friends from culinary school open a catering company called Scarlet Feather. I must be one of the few people alive who have never read Maeve Binchy.

Scarlet feather book