Customer Reviews

The Courtyard

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Augusta Merton may be Marcia Willett's greatest creation of her many great characters. She is elderly, alone, and poor when we meet her in an English teashop on the first page of this compelling story. Elegant enough to pause for tea in a nice shop but too poor to afford a piece of cake with her tea, Gussie finds an unlikely friend that day in the much younger Nell Woodward. Little did they know on that day, but the two would share a lifetime of triumphs and tragedies thanks to a second-hand dress and a borrowed hat.

A large English estate with stable buildings that are being converted into cottages is the setting for this multi-layered drama. Adultery, deception, death, despair, and redemption all play important roles in this, but it is the characters who give the work such a rich depth and make the reader anxious to turn the pages and discover what could possibly happen next.

Some of those who will intrigue you are: Henry, the altruistic lord of the manor; Gillian, his spoiled and selfish wife who learns a lot about life; John, the former navy man now finding his way in real estate ventures; Guy, the son of Kate Webster from previous novels, who finds a home in the courtyard; Elizabeth, the career woman with a few regrets; her best friend Lydia who is also Gillian's mother; and, of course, Gussie and Nell, who propel the plot and whose lives are the focus of a great part of the story.

Marcia Willett is an author who is frequently compared to Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchey and I would definitely concur. She is a wonderful storyteller.

This is a another book about families and lives entertwining, joy and sadness, to sum it up in two words dysfunctional lives - something we can all identify with.

This book will warm your heart as her books always do. I loved all the characters. Gussie, Henry, Nell, Gillian, Phoebe, Guy, Gemma. You just have to read it and you will love them too and miss them when you get to the end of the book.

I love the characters and this time there aren't so many I can't keep track of them. The story is intersting and keeps you reading to see how all the different lives will blend and play themselves out in the end. Of course, all the time hoping for a happy ending?

I love her writing and the charming places it takes me, she weaves stories of life and love that we can all understand. I love Marcia Willett and was so happy that Gussie had faith in God and talked to him, it was so refreshing in the world we live in today.. I meant to give it 5 stars.

The Courtyard is an excellent book, beautifully written, vivid, and evocative. The characters come alive, and so do their lives. The reader ends up caring deeply about them, hoping that all will turn out well. One of the huge advantages to Marcia Willett's books, incidentally, is that characters from her novels tend to show up in subsequent novels, so the reader really has a chance to "see what happens."

It is about time that her books were published, in order, in the United States. The first of her books was First Friends, second is A Friend of the Family (called Thea's Parrot in England), and third is The Courtyard. I look forward to more of the books being issued in the lovely editions shared by the first three!

The gentle measured pace of all Marcia Willett novels belie her strong, beautiful stories of human nature, and The Courtyard is no exception. Beginning with a chance meeting between a down-on-her-luck elderly woman and a beautiful young wife, the plot moves at a gentle British pace to include all manor of things, from bad marriages to blackmail to young love to severe financial anguish. And yet, all is told as a slow, meandering brook in the lovely country side Willett so beautifully describes.

Nell Woodward, the heroine of the story, is a gentle and sweet wife and mother when we first meet her--but we quickly learn that all is not what it seems, and as her life widens to include an entire "village" of entertwined characters, we see how truly no one IS an island; lives mesh and unmesh together as people move forward in the best ways they know how.

I cannot recommend this charming, beautiful novel highly enough. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.

In 1988 in Bristol, England, former naval officer John Woodward tries to make a go at it as a landlubber realtor. His wife Nell is still adjusting to having John home all the time while he adapts to not giving orders to her; their young son Jack attends boarding school so he is not around to act as a buffer although his mom fears he would only receive more commands.

At about the same time that the Woodward's marriage turns shaky, Henry Morley converts his Nethercombe Court estate's stables into a housing project the Courtyard. However, Henry, though recently married to Gillian, has marital problems as his bride fails to adapt to country life after she's seen London. Nell and Henry's elderly cousin Gussie Merton arrive at Nethercombe to visit and congratulate the latter's nephew Henry on his recent marriage. Soon marital relationships become challenged as the unhappy Nell and equally disenchanted Henry find kindred spirits in one another.

This is an entertaining English complex relationship drama starring five fully developed characters; each with their own personalities, flaws and desires that do not always mesh well with their partner's needs. Marcia Willets' fans will keep on reading with a need to know who ends up with whom. Although the ending seems too perfect, the audience will still appreciate THE COURTYARD, a deep look at how we get along, or for that matter hiding in despair when we don't.

Harriet Klausner

This is another of Marcia Willett's masterpieces. The characters are very real, you either like them or you don't. Just like real life. And many of the characters you have met before ( or will later in other of her fine books). I especially loved how Gussie loved God and wasn't ashamed, I loved how Gillian "grew up" in the book and realized the mistakes she had made and how the lovely Henry forgave her. Wonderful story of love and life!

The reviews are true...if you love Binchy and Pilcher, you'll love this book. Truly a treat...didn't want to put it down to go to sleep and couldn't wait to pick it up again. I immediately went on the Internet to learn more about the author and find more books by Marcia Willett. Grab your "cuppa" and settle in for a great read!

Wonderfully written, The Courtyard is a pleasant novel about a disparate group of people who draw together in mutual support over personal (and financial) difficulties. Set in a small village in the beautiful Devonshire (England) countryside, the book explores themes of family, achievement, romance and disappointment in a lyrical narrative flow. As ever, Ms. Willett's work is marked by deeply human characters, who gain insight and growth from their experiences; she also uses with remarkable success surprise twists of plot. The central dilemmas are satisfyingly resolved by the novel's end. If you are unfamiliar with her work, it resembles in tone and approach that of Rosamunde Pilcher. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

This was the second book by this author that I read. I did enjoy it a lot but toward the end it seemed like it was a bit rushed to tie up all the loose ends and get the information to the reader.

I am a Marcia Willett fan, but I did not enjoy reading this book as much as her others. Too many characters and story lines.