The Courtyard

From Publishers Weekly A chance tea shop meeting between an elderly pensioner and a beautiful young mother blossoms into friendship in this treat from British novelist Willett ( Echoes of the Dance ), first published 10 years ago in the U.K. It's 1988 in Bristol, England, and Nell Woodward, with young son Jack in boarding school, is uneasily married to John, a former navy officer who is trying to remake himself as a realtor. Meanwhile, Henry Morley is converting the stables of his estate, Nethercombe Court, into the Courtyard, a housing development. Henry's wedding preparations are underway as the book opens, and soon after, his discontented younger bride, Gillian, has problems adjusting to country life. At the same time, Nell's friendship with Gussie Merton, an elderly second cousin of Henry's, brings them both to Nethercombe. As relationships unravel, crises rise and fall, and tragedy strikes. Willett creates a compact multirelationship saga with a nice edge, sharpened by Willett's keen depiction of Nell and John's marriage in particular. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers." ---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour" " " "Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch." ---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter" " " "Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot." ---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside." ---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country"Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers."---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour"" ""Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch."---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter"" ""Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot."---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside."---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country"Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers."---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour"" ""Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch."---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter"" ""Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot."---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside."---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country"Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers."---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour"" ""Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch."---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter"" ""Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot."---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside."---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country"Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers."---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour"" ""Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch."---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter"" ""Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot."---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside."---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country"Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett " A must for women fiction readers." ---"Booklist "on "The Children' s Hour"" "" Like Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, Willett creates such fully dimensional characters that readers feel as if they should phone or e-mail them to keep in touch." ---"Rocky Mountain News" on "A Week in Winter"" "" Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot." ---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" " Readers will enjoy the heartwarming ending, vibrant characters, and the excellent depiction of the English countryside." ---"Booklist" (starred review) on "A Summer in the Country" Born in Somerset, in the west country of England, on the day the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Marcia Willett was the youngest of five girls. Her family was unconventional and musical, but Marcia chose to train as a ballet dancer. Unfortunately her body did not develop with the classical proportions demanded by the Royal Ballet, so she studied to be a ballet teacher. Her first husband was a naval officer in the submarine service, with whom she had a son, Charles, now married and training to be a clergyman. Her second husband, Rodney, himself a writer and broadcaster, encouraged Marcia to write novels. She has published several novels in England; A Week in Winter is the first to be published in the United States. Read more