Sometimes the word "twee" comes to mind when I am reading Marcia Willett. I find her books sweet and relaxing, peopled with real individuals who are just a bit stilted but very human and imperfect. In this novel the title character is Maria, a recent widow who years ago left her husband and young son, Jolyon, to live with the love of her life, taking her younger son, Edward, with her. Now that her husband is dead and Edward has lost much of her money in a bad investment and left for greener pastures in America with his girlfriend, Maria is alone and at loose ends. She seeks to reconnect with her previous life by visiting the Keep, home of her former husband Hal and son Jolyon. Hal is now married the love of HIS life, Fliss, a widow and his first cousin, from whom he was separated (romantically) by his family years before. Jolyon is a well-known entrepreneur and television personality who has very mixed feelings about his mother's new interest in him and in the Keep. As he finds himself falling in love with Henrietta, daughter of old family friend Cordelia (herself embroiled in a romantically intriguing situation), Jolyon tries to deal with his mother and establish a role for her in his life. In addition to all of the family angst, Willett also creates an interesting and mysterious subplot involving Cordelia and her lover.
Willett's characters are a sometimes a little bit shallow and under-developed and the outcomes of their problems a little bit too neat, but I love her books. Picture yourself in an English cottage on a gray day with a roaring fire to dispel the damp, a cup of tea and some scones fresh from the Aga, and a couple of large dogs and a pair of wellies by the door. If this scenario appeals to you, so will Willett!
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