Cass and Kate meet at school--and are firm friends for the rest of their lives. Both marry naval officers, but Cass's infidelity has far-reaching consequences for her children--and Kate's. Many of the characters in First Friends (published in the UK as Those Who Serve) reappear in later Marcia Willett novels, and we meet their children as well. As always, Marcia Willett's wise understanding of love, loss, marriage, and parenthood is conveyed with honesty, generosity, and compassion.

First Friends: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

MARCIA WILLETT

Contemporary

St. Martin's: Griffin

Picking up the story of Kate Webster and Cass Wivenhoe that began with First Friends, A Friend of the Family (published in the UK as Thea's Parrot) tells the tale of one of their friends, Felicity, a married woman who has been dallying with George, another mutual acquaintance. When Felicity is widowed, everyone expects George to pop the question. He does, but to the astonishment of Kate and Cass, his intended bride is not Felicity. With her usual generous helping of tears and laughter, Marcia Willett again provides her fans with a treat to be savored.
"Unanticipated plot twists, winsome characters, and a beguiling setting unite in Willett's captivating comedy of manners." - Booklist

A Friend of the Family

United States

The Children's Hour

In their comfortable old family home overlooking the sea, two sisters, Nest and Mina, live in solitude with memories of a once-idyllic childhood, and of the enchanted "children's hour" when their mother would regale them with tales of fantasy and delight. But the make-believe world of the story spinner didn't protect them from the reality of a shocking family tragedy best forgotten. But when their estranged sister Georgie comes to stay, she brings unwelcome memories of her own, and long-buried secrets yet to be revealed. Now three sisters will engage in the most intimate children's hour of all-the story of their own lives, of a first love never-forgotten, of a passion that tore them apart, of a death that still casts its shadow of guilt and recrimination. And the truth of a fateful night that shattered their past, and still holds the power to define their future...

British & Irish

St. Martin's Paperbacks

Nest and Mina still live at Ottercombe, their beautiful old rambling childhood home in the depths of Devon. They came to the house before the war, when as small children they played with their sisters and brothers in the gardens and the woods and the nearby beach while their mother read them stories and their father visited at weekends. It was, in retrospect, an idyllic time, when tragedy seemed far distant. Now they welcome their children and grandchildren, and especially young Lyddie, their niece, who lives in Cornwall with her handsome husband Liam. But when their sister Georgie, now somewhat frail and forgetful, comes to stay with them, aspects of their past start to revisit them. For Georgie knows all their secrets, secrets which she wants to share...

Genre Fiction

Corgi

The Birdcage

It was Felix who first called it The Birdcage - that strange and quirky household in Bristol with its close, loving women including the superbly flamboyant Angel. Angel's daughter Lizzie had loved living there as a child - and she had also loved Felix, the nearest she had to a father, whose loyalties had been strained to the limit by his deeply jealous wife Marina. Lizzie was always aware that Felix had another life at beautiful, mellow Michaelgarth, the family home on the edge of Exmoor where he tried to bring up his son Piers in a loving and peaceful environment. When Lizzie, many years later, comes at last to Michaelgarth and meets Piers for the first time, she finds a family which is in trouble - and which, miraculously, needs her to help them to heal.

Romance

Corgi Books

Echoes of the Dance

In the mellow stone house of his childhood, Roly Carradine has found refuge from a broken marriage. Here he welcomes Kate, who has just lost her husband, and young Daisy Quin, a dancer recovering from a back injury. Roly's son Nat lives not far away, and he must suffer visits of his unsympathetic mother Monica, Roly's ex-wife. All seek peace and quiet, but the disclosure of a secret proves that life is not so simple. . . .Treating Marcia Willett's ardent fans to a return visit with some of her most endearing characters from previous books, Echoes of the Dance is a gem of a story to be savored.

Echoes Of The Dance

Summer House

In the small inlaid wooden box, Matt's mother had kept all his childhood memories. Amongst them are many photos of Matt as a child, growing up. But something about the photos has always puzzled Matt - was that really him? Why did he not remember those clothes? The toys? And where, in the photos, was his sister Imogen? He has a strange unresolved feeling that there is something missing in his life. Imogen is living with her husband, a country vet, and their gorgeous baby in a rented cottage. Since her childhood she has loved the Summer House, a charming folly in the grounds of her oldest friends' beautiful and ancient house on Exmoor, and now they have the chance of buying. But her marriage is threatened when her husband refuses to live so far from his practice. Meanwhile, Matt begins to discovers the strange and tragic secret which has affected his whole life...

'We're all pilgrims', he said thoughtfully. 'One way or another, aren't we? Always searching for something'. As Christmas approaches, everything seems to be falling into place for Dossie. Her son Clem and his adorable five-year-old son Jakey have moved to Cornwall to be closer to her. She runs her own successful catering business. All she needs now is for the run of bad luck in her romantic life to end. Forming a slightly unconventional family setup with Dossie are the jovial nuns of the local convent and the wonderfully eccentric Janna - a warm-hearted, generous woman who looks after little Jakey when she's not helping at the nunnery. With humour, kindness and a deep need of somewhere to belong, they form a tight bond. But the sisters' life as they know it is at risk when an avaricious property developer starts prowling around their Grade I listed building. Will this close-knit unit who so depend on each other still be together next Christmas? And what will they have learnt about the true meaning of family?

The Christmas Angel

Indian Summer

TW Adult

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MARCIA WILLETT. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by MARCIA WILLETT

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MARCIA WILLETT. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

First Friends: A Novel

A Friend of the Family

The Children's Hour

The Children's Hour

The Birdcage

Echoes Of The Dance

Summer House

The Christmas Angel

Indian Summer

The Christmas Angel