The Courtyard: A captivating tale of an extraordinary friendship

Description

Nell Woodward and Gussie Merton make unlikely friends - one a young married woman and the other a lonely elderly lady. Nell's husband, John, is an estate agent fresh from the Navy, but he is ignorant of the outside world and, as others abandon the collapsing property market, he gets in deeper... It is at Nethercombe, the home of Gussie's nephew, Henry, that a refuge is found. Henry has developed and sold a cluster of cottages, known as The Courtyard, and the people who buy them form a bond of friendship that embraces Nell and Gussie. But it is going to take all their strength to withstand the crises ahead...

Marcia Willett trained as a ballet dancer before becoming a naval wife. She lives with her husband, Rodney, and their Newfoundlands, Bessie and Trubshawe. She has one son.

Praise for the Novels of Marcia Willett "A must for women fiction readers."---"Booklist "on "The Children's Hour"" ""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"" ""Thoroughly engrossing, with richly drawn characters, a mysterious locale, and a beautifully crafted plot."---"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel" on "A Week in Winter" "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"