Stories about ordinary people going about ordinary lives will always be fascinating when told by a writer blessed with extraordinary talent insight & compassion. This Year It Will Be Different brings us the magic & spirit of Christmas in fifteen stories filled with Maeve Binchys trademark wit charm & sheer storytelling genius. Instead of nostalgia Binchy evokes contemporary life; instead of Christmas homilies she offers truth; & instead of sugarplums she brings us the nourishment of holidays that precipitate change growth & new beginnings. The stories in This Year It Will Be Different powerfully evoke many lives during the one holiday of the year when feelings cannot be easily hidden: step-families grappling with exes; long-married couples faced with in-law problems; a wandering husband choosing between the other woman & his wife; a child caught in the grown-up tug-of-war. The time of year may be magical imbued with personal meaning but the situations are universal & Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all.