The Birdcage By Marcia Willett
Posted by Jessica on September 12, 2011
Now that both her mother and her mother’s close friend are dead, the links to Lizzie’s lively and rather eccentric childhood have been severed. Yet, while sorting through her mother’s things, Lizzie discovers a postcard that brings the past flooding back. She remembers Felix, her mother’s married lover who spent many a weekend with them and who became almost a father to her. Raw with grief, she is seized by the overpowering impulse to find Felix again and recapture some of the magic of those long ago times.
Still bruised after a relationship break-up, uncertain as to where her life is heading, Lizzie travels to Michaelgarth, Felix’s family home in Exmoor. Not only does she find Felix, now an old man, but a family in desperate need of help. Felix’s son Piers has been particularly affected by his parents’ unhappy marriage, and can’t help but blame the woman who captivated his father for so many years. Yet, in a curious twist of fate, it seems that warm-hearted Lizzie might be the very person they’ve been waiting for.
This was the first of Marcia Willett’s novels I picked up, and also happens to be my favourite. Her warm style, genuinely decent characters, and the way she seamlessly intertwines the past and present makes this a truly unforgettable read. In fact, it was Marcia’s use of the present tense to distinguish the past from the modern day story that gave me the inspiration for how to write my upcoming release “Dark is the Sky”, so I’m indebted to her for that.
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