From the beloved author of A Week in Winter and The Sea Garden, The Songbird is a heartwarming novel about family, yearning, and whether love can bloom where old secrets are buried. When Tim confides in Mattie that he needs a sabbatical from work and a fresh place to live, she suggests he move into one of the cottages at her family’s home in the beautiful English countryside. She senses there’s … English countryside. She senses there’s something he’s not telling her, but she has faith that he’ll fit right in with the eccentric but affectionate crowd at Brockscombe.
As he gets to know the warm jumble of family who share their lives, Tim discovers that everyone there has their secrets. There’s Kat, a retired ballet dancer who longs to take the stage again; Charlotte, a young navy wife struggling to bring up her son while her husband is at sea; and William, who has tried hard to get over his estranged wife–though it’s much harder now that she’s trying to move into the cottage Tim just occupied. And, even when she’s far away, Tim knows there’s Mattie…beautiful, engaging, clever Mattie. Can Tim open up to her? Would it matter, he wonders, if he did?
Marcia Willett, the master of the charming country novel, once again weaves the stories of her vibrant, lovable characters into this heartwarming read.
more
This is a sweet, easy to read book about a family in rural England. It’s not a family because of the blood ties of some of the members but a family of people from different parts of life that live in a small compound and love and take care of each other. The descriptions of the English country side are so beautiful, that you feel like you are there enjoying the scenery and relaxing in the life style of a small town.
Tim decides to take a sabbatical, even though he is young, and Mattie (a woman he works with) offers him a cottage in her family compound in Dartmoor. Even though she feels that he is hiding something, she doesn’t pry and helps him find a place where he can be comfortable. Also living at the compound are Kat, a retired ballet dancer; Charlotte and her infant son who are waiting for her husband to come home from the Navy; William who is estranged from his wife and Francis, the elder owner of the main house and the small cottages. Francis cares for the people who live in the cottages as if they were his own children and everyone is friends with each other. Tim is the real outsider to the group and they give him time to himself to help him work through his problems. As he begins to warm up to the group, he realizes how much they all mean to him and that he can share his secrets with them and with Mattie.
The author does an excellent job of weaving the stories of each character together and making all of the characters interesting to read about. I enjoyed the story as well as the description of the English countryside.
In this beautiful story we are introduced to a myriad of characters who are all connected either directly, or through another person, to the old Georgian Brockscombe Farm. The owner, family patriarch Francis Courtney, is in poor health and resides in the main home. Other residences on the property are occupied by family members or a friend of the family.
Each person has his own story and author Marcia Willett does an excellent job of interweaving them into a connected tale. The characters slowly give up secrets of the past that have helped shaped them into the people they are now. I enjoyed getting to know them and watch how each struggles with personal choices that will impact their future.
I received an Advance Readers Copy of The Songbird and was initially confused when I saw that there are earlier editions. This one is the first American edition. I do not know what, if any, changes have been made prior to release, but can tell you that my ARC still contains some British words and expressions that I did not know (and I have English friends, so am familiar with many). Even if you do not take time to look them up, you can generally get the meaning from context, so do not let that be a deterrent in deciding to read this book. Because there are so many characters, it did take a little time to keep the “who’s who” straight in my mind, but once I had made all the connections, this was no longer an issue.
Brockscombe Farm is a place I would have loved to visit both to enjoy the beautiful setting and to get to know the people who lived there. Since that is obviously not possible, reading The Songbird was the next best thing. I would encourage you to do the same.
Although my copy was provided by the publisher at no charge, I am not required to write a review. The decision to share my thoughts, as well as the content of that opinion, is mine alone.