With a title all too telling of what goodness wait within, This Year It Will Be Different: And Other Stories takes readers to Christmas' of an entirely unique sort. Best-selling author Maeve Binchy shares with readers an original collection of feel-good stories set in England, Ireland and Australia. Composed of 15 shorts, this contemporary collection features inspiring tales of plight and redemption filled with "real" character that are easy to relate to. Powerful, evocative and meaningful, these stories go beyond the call of duty, peppering the season with real spirit and warmth.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Circle of Friends, The Glass Lake, and Evening Class comes a stunning collection of fifteen Christmas stories filled with Maeve Binchy''s trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius.  In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis. . . .  In "Pulling Together," a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point as Christmas Eve approaches. . . .  And in the title story, "This Year It Will Be Different," a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs. . .

These stories, and a dozen more, powerfully evoke many lives--from step-families grappling with exes to children caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden.  The time of year may be magical, imbued with meaning.  But the situations are timeless.  And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all.

From the "New York Times bestselling author of "Circle of Friends, The Glass Lake, and "Evening Class comes a stunning collection of fifteen Christmas stories filled with Maeve Binchy''s trademark wit, charm, and sheer storytelling genius. In "A Typical Irish Christmas," a grieving widower heads for a holiday in Ireland and finds an unexpected destination not just for himself, but for a father and daughter in crisis. . . . In "Pulling Together," a teacher not yet out of her twenties sees her affair with a married man at a turning point as Christmas Eve approaches. . . . And in the title story, "This Year It Will Be Different," a woman with a complacent husband and grown children enters a season that will forever alter her life, and theirs. . .
These stories, and a dozen more, powerfully evoke many lives--from step-families grappling with exes to children caught in grown-up tugs-of-war--during the one holiday when feelings cannot be easily hidden. The time of year may be magical, imbued with meaning. But the situations are timeless. And Maeve Binchy makes us care about them all.

Maeve Binchy was born and educated in Dublin.  She is the bestselling author of Evening Class, The Glass Lake, The Copper Beech, The Lilac Bus, Circle of Friends, Silver Wedding, Firefly Summer, Echoes, Light a Penny Candle, London Transports, two plays, and a teleplay that won three awards at the Prague Film Festival.  She has been writing for The Irish Times since 1969 and lives with her husband, Gordon Snell, in Dublin.