At the height of her fame as an international author, Maeve Binchy made many television appearances. The purpose was, of course, to publicise her latest book, but the results could be hilarious. During one Late Late Show appearance, she spoke to Pat Kenny about some of her early difficulties as an author: “When I started writing the books, I couldn’t really put any graphic sex into it because I was never at an orgy. Were you ever at an orgy Pat?” Maeve Binchy was born in Dalkey in south county Dublin in 1940, the eldest of four children. As a young history student in UCD, Maeve discovered the disadvantages of living in the quiet seaside village. “It was so far out, nine and a half miles from Dublin. What would you have to promise somebody to give you a lift home? When people discovered that you lived in Dalkey, it was goodbye after the first dance.” Maeve spent time living in a kibbutz in Israel, after which she went teaching and writing part-time. Finally, she got her big break and joined the Irish Times. She moved to the paper’s London Office in the mid-1970s and, a few years later, married the BBC journalist and writer, Gordon Snell. Maeve Binchy’s articles were witty and lively. They also showed her interest in the lives or ordinary people whose conversations she overheard on the bus or the Tube. She often missed her station so that she could hear the end of a fellow passenger’s story. A few years later, Maeve turned her hand to fiction, starting with the short story collections Victoria Line and Central Line. Her big break came in 1982 with her first novel Light a Penny Candle, which told the story of a long friendship between an Irish girl and her English pal. The book was a massive bestseller. Further success followed with Circle of Friends and Tara Road, both of which were made into films. During the course of her career, Maeve Binchy sold over 40 million books. Sadly, she died in July 2012 after a lifetime of consisten