Maeve's Lilac Bus: A light hearted read

Ever since I began reading Maeve's Times a few years back, I have been a fan of hers. I must confess that I haven't read Maeve's Times completely as I love savouring her short stories once in a while, especially during stressful times.

I happened to pick up and finish Lilac bus some days back. Lilac bus is a collection of short stories about a few regular bus passengers from Dublin to Rathdoon.

Some of the characters are fun, intriguing and evocative. Nancy is an inimitable, innocent, and naive. Her punctuality, curiosity, and friendliness makes her very likeable. I loved most of her story, except some portions in the middle. Without spoiling the story, I'd say that the ending was unexpected and fun to read.

Dee's hapless life wasn't a great read. I skipped most parts of Mickey's story as it was quite pitiable.

Maeve's poignant narration of Judy's story left me in tears. The aching pain beneath her loving and sprightly outword vibe makes us want to give her a hug.

Kev as a person seems reserved and understanding although his story didn't appeal to me.

Next comes Rupert with all his nonchalance and disinterest for a career in law. He appears to be a nice human being and the story is engrossing. Again, the story slumps in the ending. I nudged myself to complete Celia's story. Tom Fitzgerald is an interesting and vivacious character whose story I thoroughly enjoyed. Although, there wasn't a plot as such.

If you are looking for a quick and light-hearted read, pick this one. I'd give it a 3.5⭐/5.

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