Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (1998, Book)

Synopsis
An American woman whose son has just died and an Irishwoman whose husband leaves her trade houses for a year. A Publishers Weekly best-seller for 27 weeks.

Key Details
Author:	Maeve Binchy
Language:	English
Format:	Book
ISBN-10:	0385333951
ISBN-13:	9780385333955

Size
Length:	502 pages
Height:	9.8 in
Width:	6.5 in
Thickness:	2 in
Weight:	29.6 oz

Publisher's Note
Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed. Drawn into lifestyles vastly differing from their own, at first each resents the news of how well the other is getting on. Ria seems to have become quite a hostess, entertaining half the neighborhood, which at first irritates the reserved and withdrawn Marilyn, a woman who has always guarded her privacy. Marilyn seems to have become bosom friends with Ria's children, as well as with Colm, a handsome restaurateur, whom Ria has begun to miss terribly. At the end of the summer, the women at last meet face-to-face. Having learned a great deal, about themselves and about each other, they find that they have become, firmly and forever, good friends.

Industry Reviews
Abandoned by her husband, a Dublin woman named Ria meets American Marilyn via the phone, and they end up swapping houses with surprise results.
Kolchin