content: ECHOES was my first exposure to Maeve Binchy, and I was not disappointed. It is the timeworn tale of the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who wins the love of the wealthy boy. But it doesn't necessarily end happily ever after, and for that it's a step above your run-of-the-mill romance novel.Binchy's enchanting depiction of Ireland in the `50s and `60s and her loving characterizations warmly send the reader into that time and place. It was a treat for me every evening to come home from working in the corporate frenzy of the new millennium to return to that simpler time. Nothing too terribly shocking or powerful, not a whole lot to contemplate when you reach the end, just a welcome respite for a few hundred pages.If, as many reviewers here have suggested, ECHOES is not Maeve Binchy's best work, then I find myself very fortunate to be able to work my way through her catalog.