SOURCE: A review of Evening Class, in World Literature Today, Vol. 72, No. 1, Winter, 1998, p. 133.

In the following review, Knapp offers a positive assessment of Evening Class, but notes that several of the situations in the novel seem contrived and implausible.

Maeve Binchy's prolific pen has produced a book nearly every year since 1983, including two plays, three volumes of short stories, and close to a dozen novels, of which Circle of Friends (1991) has become widely known through a recent screen adaptation. Binchy's fictional world is comfortably rooted in Irish culture, portrayed as endearing and warmly human (an interesting contrast, for example, to Frank McCourt's harrowing 1996 book, Angela's Ashes).

The “evening class” is an introduction to Italian language and culture, created by boarding-school principal Aidan Dunn. It is the swan song of his career, and taught by the woman with whom he is destined to fall in love in the...