Non-Fiction Memoir English Language

Maeve’s Times: Selected Irish Times Writings

Maeve Binchy (ed. Róisín Ingle)

2013 Orion Books

I went into the ladies’ cloakroom of a hotel and a man sat peaceably at a sort of dressing table. The place where you are meant to be a woman and sit combing your hair and adjusting your make-up. The man had his briefcase beside him and he was fairly absorbed in some kind of paperwork. He certainly wasn’t doing anyone any harm, and I often think that the distinction is fairly arbitrary anyway in cloakrooms. After all, single-sex facilities are available on the Continent and I’ve never been in a private house where they made a distinction, except in one place in Australia where they had ‘Blokes’ and ‘Sheilas’ written on the doors. It was a perfectly comfortable place to sit: chair, desk and even a mirror to examine himself in if he had any doubts about self-image. He wasn’t taking up too much space, it was easy to sit beside him and adjust your make-up. It was just a small bit unsettling to know what exactly he was doing there.

from 'The Man Who Set Up Office in the Ladies'

Maeve’s Times: Selected Irish Times Writings

Maeve Binchy (ed. Róisín Ingle)

2013 Orion Books

I went into the ladies’ cloakroom of a hotel and a man sat peaceably at a sort of dressing table. The place where you are meant to be a woman and sit combing your hair and adjusting your make-up. The man had his briefcase beside him and he was fairly absorbed in some kind of paperwork. He certainly wasn’t doing anyone any harm, and I often think that the distinction is fairly arbitrary anyway in cloakrooms. After all, single-sex facilities are available on the Continent and I’ve never been in a private house where they made a distinction, except in one place in Australia where they had ‘Blokes’ and ‘Sheilas’ written on the doors. It was a perfectly comfortable place to sit: chair, desk and even a mirror to examine himself in if he had any doubts about self-image. He wasn’t taking up too much space, it was easy to sit beside him and adjust your make-up. It was just a small bit unsettling to know what exactly he was doing there.

from 'The Man Who Set Up Office in the Ladies'

Description

Maeve’s Times is a collection of 90 pieces of Maeve Binchy’s Irish Times journalism, covering over five decades. It was edited by the Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle, and has an introduction by Binchy’s husband Gordon Snell. It was published on the first anniversary of Maeve Binchy’s death.

 
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