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The Birdcage: A Novel |
Author: Marcia Willett
Published: 2006-06-27 |
List price: $6.99
Our price: $6.99
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As of: January 06th, 2009 01:39:02 AM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 The Birdcage
This is one of Marcia Willett's best books in my opinion. The characters are interesting and likeable. You will recognize a few of them from her other books. I like how she weaves all their stories together. You feel like you are revisiting old friends.
 Outstanding writing. Compelling characters. Great plot.
This is the first novel I have read by this author. What a find! Marcia Willett is an outstanding English author. Her prose is so far above the average contemporary writer, that the critics seem to compare her to. Moving, and deep, this is a story that will linger on your mind for months after you finish this book. I hated to finish the last page and leave these characters. I could see and feel the English countryside.
This is a must read.
I will immediately buy more books from this author and will look forward to any new books in the future.
Simply Marvelous
If you have not yet discovered Marcia Willett, I urge you to pick up this book, you have a major treat in store. Reminiscent of Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy but very much her own woman, Willett writes painstakingly and lovingly of everyday lives that are anything but ordinary.
"The Birdcage" spans two generations of very nice people caught up in circumstances that have far-reaching repercussions. It begins in the 50s, in the loveless marriage of Felix and Marina, whose only thing in common is their precocious young son Piers. Marina is a stiff, unyielding woman who stifles her natural adoration of her husband and son beneath a strict, mean exterior that manifests itself in insane jealousy of Felix, and overbearing discipline toward Piers.
When Felix meets lovely, fey, bubbly Angel, a beautiful actress who lives with her roommate Pidge and young daughter Lizzie in a charming house they have named "The Birdcage," the outcome is inevitable. For years, Felix travels on business to Bristol, where he shares a joyous and lively life with the Birdcage household. Angel is his mistress and their love is unchanging. Until Angel pushes the envelope and tragedy ensues.
Fast forward 40 years. Felix is an elderly and frail man; Piers a divorced adult; and Angel and Pidge are long gone. It takes about two chapters to sort out all the new people and figure out their relationships to one another and to the people of the past, and that is the only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. But no matter. In an enchanting second half, Lizzie, now grown and an actress on her own, comes back to find Felix--and to ground herself with some understanding of her past. It's a beautiful story that can stand on its own, but when the past meets the present and old wounds are opened and then healed, it makes for a simply lovely story.
Highly recommended.
Well Done
I've always wondered what I would do without Rosamunde Pilcher to soothe my reading mind....now it seems that Marcia Willet is a good...I don't want to say substitute, because no-one can replace RP, but she comes VERY close!
This is a good read - I enjoyed it. The flow is great, the characters are well done and it is enough to encourage me to read another of MW's books. If I had to use one word I would use
SOOTHING. Well done Marcia! thanks!
Cozy English Tale of Heartbreak and Healing
Marcia Willett delivers another wonderfully romantic tale set on the English coast. From the tall house in Bristol, nicknamed the Birdcage, to the lush setting in Exmoor, this story plays out in an enchanting, multi-generational saga that will leave her fans, and all fans of women's fiction, deeply satisfied.
Angela Blake is the passionate actress who falls in love with Felx Hamilton. He comes to love the life Angela, her daughter Lizzie, and their housemate Pidge live and becomes a vital part of that life. Lizzie longs for him to be the father she never knew, but Felix has other obligations. He has a family in Exmoor, a wife he no longer loves but a beloved son, Piers, who he cannot forsake. Or can he? Which life will Felix choose and what will be the repercussions for him and the next generation?
The story plays out in two time frames: the 1950's when Angela and Felix first meet, and later in the 1990's when the fall-out from their love affair must be dealt with. This is, above all, Lizzie's story as she seeks to connect the past and the present in order to face her uncertain future.
Rich with the local color of her beloved England, warm with characters you come to love, and heartrending in its plot, this is another five-star read from Marcia Willett.
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