Marcia Willett - Free Library Land Online - Mystery

The Golden Cup

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:01:14 +0200

Paradise has been home to generations of Trevannions: Paradise, the house at the head of a sheltered Cornish valley where Mrs Trevannion lives, surrounded by her family. Frail and elderly Honor Trevannion, bedridden following a nasty fall, is inexplicably anxious and distressed by the arrival of a young American bearing an old black and white photograph of a double wedding and looking for a long-lost relation. Her children Bruno and Emma, granddaughter Joss and faithful cousin Mousie try to nurse Honor back to health, unaware of the secrets which she keeps from those closest to her. Increasingly troubled and confused, she begs Joss to find a cache of letters which have been hidden for fifty years.Too late to hear the story from Honor herself, the family are faced with revelations which could destroy the tranquillity of life in their beloved valley. Will they be torn apart or can they unite in admiration for one woman's courage in standing by the life-changing decision she...

Starry, Starry Night

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 18:20:41 +0200

'We'll always be together, won't we?'
Childhood friends and cousins Leo and Alice had imagined their whole lives playing out on their beloved Devon beach. But one night when they are teens, sitting on the sand beneath the stars, Alice tells Leo a secret that must never be shared with anybody else . . . then packs her bag and flees.
Leo is left to build his own life - without Alice. He surrounds himself with other family and friends and on the whole is content and fulfilled. But he is left with a sense of what - or who - is missing. So decades later, when he receives a note from Alice asking if she can come home, he doesn't hesitate to agree.
But as the stars align and their reunion draws near, Leo is left to consider their separation and what so many years apart means for a relationship solidified in youth and a secret which could affect the whole family.
Praise for Marcia Willett:
'A warm and engaging read.' Trisha Ashley
'A...

The Garden House

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 15:35:52 +0300

Marcia Willett's The Garden House is a charming and heartwarming novel about family, yearning, and long-buried secrets ...

Christmas at the Keep

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 14:55:13 +0300

A moving and uplifting festive short story from Marcia Willett, perfect for fans of Katie Fforde and Fern Britton.
Nestled in the Devon countryside, the Keep has always been a refuge for the Chadwick family: forever warm and welcoming through the challenges life has thrown at them. And the current occupants have certainly seen their share of challenges...
Lulu and her small son, Oliver, are staying at the Keep while they find their feet. Freddie's commission as a naval chaplain has just ended and he too is grateful to have been welcomed at the Keep whilst he decides where to go next. And now Ed, the black sheep of the family, is finally coming home after ten years living in the USA.
Ed's strange, secretive behaviour means that he often clashes with his family. But as the autumn draws to a close and a sprinkling of snow dusts the moors, could the promise of a family Christmas at the Keep be enough to ease tensions and soothe the sting...

A Friend of the Family

Wed, 22 Nov 1995 19:47:25 +0200

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.

Summer on the River

Thu, 22 Nov 2001 23:08:31 +0200

First Friends

Wed, 22 Nov 1995 19:47:23 +0200

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.

A Summer in the Country

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:47:21 +0200

Marcia Willett's previous novel, A Week in Winter, her first to be published in the United States, received a rousing welcome from readers and reviewers alike. Her new novel, A Summer in the Country, introduces an equally beguiling cast of characters whose lives become intricately entwined at Foxhole, a charming and cozy country house on the wild edges of the Devon moors.

Brigid Foster has inherited Foxhole from her father, and has created two guest cottages, which she rents during the holidays to tourists. Brigid's delight at welcoming Louise Parry, one of her regular summer visitors, is tempered by the irritating presence of Brigid's monumentally judgmental mother, Frummie. Having abandoned Foxhole (and Brigid) forty years earlier, Frummie makes no secret of her disdain for the glorious natural splendor of her surroundings, nor of her preference for Brigid's flightly but fabulous half-sister, Jemima. Jemima, meanwhile, has problems of her...

The Children's Hour

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:08:33 +0200

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...

Second Time Around

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:47:26 +0200

In this latest early novel from bestselling author Marcia Willett, Mathilda Rainbird bequeaths her home to three unknown relatives: twenty-two-year-old Tessa, who misses her dead parents and brother but has learned to live alone; Will, a widower, who is drawn to Mathilda's housekeeper, Isobel; and Beatrice, a retired prep-school matron who thinks the idea of living with her cousins is preposterous.Deeply moving and utterly real, Second Time Around features the shining honesty that Willett's fans have come to love.

Postcards from the Past

Mon, 22 Nov 1999 19:47:24 +0200

Beloved novelist Marcia Willett continues to captivate readers with her inspiring novels about family, friendship, and love.
In Postcards from the Past Siblings Billa and Ed share their beautiful, grand old childhood home in rural Cornwall. With family and friends nearby, and their living arrangements free and easy, they seem as contented as they can be.
But when postcards start arriving from a sinister figure they thought belonged well and truly in their pasts, old memories are stirred. Why is he contacting them now? And what has he been hiding all these years?

The Courtyard

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:08:32 +0200

In this latest early novel from the beloved Marcia Willett, Henry Morley can only wonder at the good fortune that has given him a vivacious wife and a beloved family home called Nethercombe. When he remodels a cluster of cottages known as the Courtyard, he is delighted to welcome a group of charming tenants. But soon disaster strikes, and everyone must come together to face the crises head on. Marcia Willett's ardent fans will savor a return visit with some of her most endearing characters.The Courtyard is a gem of a story to be savored.

The Christmas Angel

Fri, 22 Nov 2002 23:08:32 +0200

'He feels restless; sad that the tiny, sparkling lights and the pretty tree will no longer be there to brighten the short, dark winter days.'It's just after Christmas, and four-year-old Jakey is helping to put away the decorations. He hates seeing them disappear back into their boxes, especially the big, homemade angel, which has put in an appearance at family Christmases for many years. Jakey calls her Auntie Gabriel, and she holds a big red satin heart. But things are going to be different for Jakey this year. The Cornish home which he has known all his life is in danger of being sold up, and everything is changing.Will this close-knit unit who have come to depend on each other still be together next Christmas? And what will they have learnt about having somewhere you truly belong?

The Songbird

Sat, 23 Nov 1996 03:05:12 +0200

The delightfully warm and elegant new novel from the much-loved author Marcia Willett. When Mattie invites her old friend Tim to stay in one of her family cottages on the edge of Dartmoor, she senses there is something he is not telling her, as if he is holding on to a painful secret. But as he gets to know the rest of the warm jumble of family who live by the moor, Tim discovers that everyone there has their own secrets. There is Charlotte, a young navy wife struggling to bring up her son while her husband is at sea; William, who guards a dark past he cannot share with the others; and Mattie, who has loved Tim in silence for years.As Tim begins to open up, Mattie falls deeper in love. And as summer warms the wild Dartmoor landscape, new beginnings take root . . . But can fresh hopes bloom where old secrets are buried?If you like books by Santa Montefiore, Joanna Trollope and Erica James, you'll love Marcia Willett's gloriously warm novels...