A group of tourists on a small Greek Island are drawn together after they witness a tragedy at sea. Each of them is struggling with personal problems: German Reporter Elsa has quit her job and left her boyfriend after discovering a devastating secret he had kept hidden. Fiona has come to the island from Ireland with her boyfriend Shane - her parents don't like him but she is determined to share her life with him. Californian Thomas is getting over a bitter divorce and his ex-wife's remarriage, afraid that his son will love his stepfather more than he loves Thomas. David has left his family behind in England; they want him to join in the family business but he has other plans. The people living on the island also have their problems: taverna owner Andreas is estranged from his son as is his friend Vonni whose son hates her because of her troubled past. As this disparate group comes to know each other, their lives will change in ways they never thought possible.

"Nights of Rain and Stars" gets off to a slow start, but once Maeve Binchy was done introducing the characters and switches to their families stories (about halfway through the book) I didn't want to put the book down. With the exception of Shane (who is so one-dimensional you have to wonder what Fiona ever saw in him), the others are complex and well-written characters that you will care about (liking them one second, wanting to shake them the next). All of their personal struggles were interesting, although Andreas wasn't in the book enough for me to fully care about his problems with his son. Vonni is perhaps the best-written character - she is the wise "mother" of them all, able to solve their problems but not her own. Binchy throws in several plot twists that keep the story moving and the twists make some of the characters even more interesting. Not all of the plot developments work, I found the one romantic relationship that developed to be unconvincing. Binchy ties up most of the various plots at the end, but leaves a couple of them open ended, perhaps sloppy writing or perhaps with a sequel in mind.

This was a pleasant, cozy book to read. ( )

Weer een heerlijk vakantieboek, waarin de belevenissen van enkele uiteenlopende mensen wordt verteld die op vakantie zijn in Griekenland. ( )

This was one of my CD while driving to/from work picks -- i almost ejected the 1st CD after it started but I hung on for a bit longer and found that I enjoyed the storyline. ( )

Quick gentle reading ... no challenge. Sure many folks would enjoy it though. ( )

A group of tourists who are touring Greece witness a tragic accident off of one of the Greek isles. The are drawn closer together in the the aftermath of the event and one by one their stories unfold. ( )