The Copper Beech
          Eight children once carved their names on the trunk of the great copper beech tree which shades the schoolhouse in Shancarrig. Now those children are grown. They have different lives but it was the school that formed them and made them what they are. For each their hometown of Shancarrig holds special memories – some too private ever to be told.
          From Ryan’s Hotel to Barna Woods where the gypsies camp each year, from Nellie Dunn’s sweet shop to Father Gunn’s church, the tenor of life in this small Irish town is outwardly placid, uneventful, some like Nessa Ryan in search of passion would say, deadly dull. But peel away the layers and all sorts of unexpected things come to light: like Maddy Ross’s secret love, Eddie Barton’s surprising pen friendship, and what Maura Brennan discovers about the glamorous newcomers, Mike and Gloria Darcy . . .

Evening Class
          The new Italian evening class at Mountainview School in Dublin is like hundreds of others starting up all over the city – but this one has its own special quality… the hopes and dreams of so many people are tied up in the twice-weekly lessons.
          They come to the evening class, but they all learn far more than they ever bargained for, and by the time they are ready to set off on the promised trip to Italy at the end of the year, everyone’s destiny has changed utterly.