The Prodigal Wife
A Novel
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4.1 • 8 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Deservedly compared to her countrywomen, Binchy and Pilcher, Willett is an equally gifted storyteller."—Booklist
In Marcia Willett's latest novel, Jolyon, who had been abandoned by his mother, Maria, is living at the Keep with his father and his stepmother Fliss. Now that Jolyon is a successful television presenter of gardening programs, the recently widowed Maria, lonely and impressed by her son's fame, reappears and hopes to step back into his life. But Jolyon finds it difficult to trust his mother and forgive the hurt she had inflicted on him.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this gentle, charming novel of indiscretion, grudges, love and mortality, two middle-aged couples reunite late in life following long separation and marriages to others. As the children of these first marriages fall in love, they draw everyone together again, including a couple of trouble-making ex-spouses. With so much deferred love-involving infidelity, divorce, traumatized kids, wasted years, and more-there is much to be emotional about, and the latest from British novelist Willett (The Way We Were) is chiefly engaged in rehashing these feelings endlessly. For all the introspection, however, there is a lack of nuance-characters' emotional self-exploration is more prolific than profound. Still, a generally likable cast outweighs their emotional transparency, and the plot clicks along with pleasant, cathartic rhythms and an intriguing mystery subplot.
