SOURCE: “Death and Life in Ireland,” in Washington Post Book World, March 7, 1995, p. E2.

In the following review, Dooley offers a mixed assessment of The Glass Lake.

Reading a Maeve Binchy novel is as cozy and comforting as climbing into a warm bed on a cold night. Bad things happen to her people and sad things, too, but in Binchy's hands these become lessons learned and wisdom gained. As in previous novels, her story [in The Glass Lake] revolves around a small Irish village, a closely interwoven world where security is the prize and privacy the price. You'll not find any of these villagers embracing the casual confessional style of TV talk shows, publicly explaining why they beat their wives, abuse their children, take a little dope or steal a lot of dough.

The villagers mark down the girl whose baby comes too soon. They pity the drunkard's...