The Return Journey

Book excerpt: In this extraordinary collection of stories, New York Times bestselling author Maeve Binchy once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart with powerfully compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation. A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip. . . . A man and a woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be. . . . An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors. . . . A pair of star-crossed travelers take each other's bags, and then learn that when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life. In their company are many more, whose poignant, ironic, often humorous stories—unforgettable slices of life—make up The Return Journey, a spellbinding trip into the human heart.