Product Details
The Birdcage: A Novel

The Birdcage: A Novel
By Mrs. Marcia Willett

Price:

This item is not available for purchase from this store.
Click here to go to Amazon to see other purchasing options.


33 new or used available from $0.15

Average customer review:

Product Description

It was Felix Hamilton who named it the Birdcage--the tall house in Bristol where Miss Pidgeon lives with her tenants, the beautiful and talented actress Angel Blake and Angel's daughter, Lizzie. Lizzie longed for a father, but Felix knew that ultimately he would have to remain with his own son, Piers, at the gracious, mellow Michaelgarth, the family home on the edge of Exmoor.
 
Many years later, Lizzie comes at last to Michaelgarth and meets Piers for the first time. There she finds a family in trouble--and miraculously, they need her to help them heal.
 
Written with shining honesty and compassion, The Birdcage has every bit of the wonder that Marcia Willett's fans have come to expect.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #956574 in Books
  • Published on: 2005-08-01
  • Released on: 2005-07-28
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 352 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Trapped in a loveless marriage, Felix begins a passionate affair with Angel, a beguiling young actress and single mother with a similarly enchanting daughter named Lizzie, who comes to think of Felix as the father she never knew. As Felix's attachment for his second family deepens, he dreads the day he may be forced to choose between Angel and Lizzie and his own son, Piers. That day comes when his wife discovers his infidelity, her ultimatum forcing Felix to abruptly walk out of Angel's life forever. Some 40 years later, after Angel's death, Lizzie is tormented by a need to find Felix, and get answers to questions that have plagued her for years. When they reunite, Lizzie finally meets Piers, and these children of former lovers realize they have more in common than their unorthodox background would suggest. Deservedly compared to her countrywomen, Binchy and Pilcher, Willett is an equally gifted storyteller, developing characters that evoke strong feelings as she weaves lusciously intriguing plots. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Deservedly compared to her countrywomen, Binchy and Pilcher, Willett is an equally gifted storyteller.”
—Booklist


From the Back Cover

Praise for Marcia Willett's Novels
 
"Willett's first book published in the U.S., A Week in Winter, was very popular with contemporary women's fiction consumers, and comparisons to Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy abounded. 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
 
"A must for women's fiction readers."
- Booklist on The Children's Hour
 
"Readers will be charmed by Willett's style--highly recommended."
- Library Journal on A Week in Winter
 
"Captivating . . . will evoke for readers Rosamunde Pilcher's The Shell Seekers . . . Willett's a true discovery."
- Michelle Slung, Victoria magazine, on A Week in Winter
 
"Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot . . . The perfect addition to your summer beach tote."
- (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel on A Week in Winter
 
"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

Customer Reviews

Simply Marvelous4
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.

Cozy English Tale of Heartbreak and Healing5
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.

Well Done5
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!