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First Friends (Those Who Serve)
Cass and Kate meet at school--and are firm friends for the rest of their lives. Both marry naval officers, but Cass's infidelity has far-reaching consequences for her children--and Kate's. Many of the characters in First Friends (published in the UK as Those Who Serve) reappear in later Marcia Willett novels, and we meet their children as well. As always, Marcia Willett's...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
August 8th 2006
by St. Martin's Griffin
(first published February 1st 1998)
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Kate Webster and Cass Wivenhoe have been friends since they were 12 years old. You travel through their lives for the next 15 years. Both women marry Naval men and their husbands are as different as Kate and Cass. Kate has twin boys and her husband is unloving bully. Cassandra (Cass) marries Tom and both have numerous extra marital affairs. I really enjoyed this novel because I had already read the novel when Kate is an older woman and one of her twin boys marries one of Cass's daughters. The in...more
A fun summer read--all about relationships.
This story spotlights a valuable treasure in a woman’s life – that of true and abiding friendship.
Kate & Cass became friends as young girls in England and kept their friendship alive through adulthood when they both marry naval officers, had children and began their lives as military families. Though they were not always living in the same location (a standard woe for naval families) they keep close with visits, letters and phone calls.
Kate feel trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband do...more
Kate & Cass became friends as young girls in England and kept their friendship alive through adulthood when they both marry naval officers, had children and began their lives as military families. Though they were not always living in the same location (a standard woe for naval families) they keep close with visits, letters and phone calls.
Kate feel trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband do...more
Picked this up off the library shelf by chance while wait for my holds to come in. I liked a lot of the characters and the writing is pretty good, but all the affairs got a little boring.
The write-up on the back says, "Marcia Willett's wise understanding of love, loss, marriage, and parenthood is conveyed with honesty, generosity, and compassion." Maybe I live is a little puritanical bubble, but the marriages she conveys in this book look NOTHING like the marriages I know!
The write-up on the back says, "Marcia Willett's wise understanding of love, loss, marriage, and parenthood is conveyed with honesty, generosity, and compassion." Maybe I live is a little puritanical bubble, but the marriages she conveys in this book look NOTHING like the marriages I know!
I'm so glad that I read "A Friend of the Family" before I read this book. I really loved "A Friend of the Family", which is a sequel to "First Friends". I quite liked Cass in "A Friend..." and really hated her in this book. In this book, the first page tells you the tragic end to the story and you read the entire book with a feeling of dread.
I only gave this book 2 stars because I managed to finish it. I would not compare this author to Rosemunde Pilcher. I didn't think it was really a book about friendships either. The focus seemed to be mostly on who was sleeping with who and can we get away from it. I hope her later books are better because I think I have 3 more on my TBR.
Kate and Cass as different as chalk and cheese which cements their friendship at English boarding school and results in their similarly timed weddings to submarine men. They both find ways to cope with their husbands long absences at sea and find joy in motherhood.
First published in 1995 in England and in America in 2006. I've decided after the second book I've read by this author that she is fast becoming one of my favorite English writers. I've got two more to read by her sitting on my nightstand, and I look forward to them.
Feb 12, 2009
Deb
marked it as to-read
Publishers' habit of printing British books in the US with different titles really irks me. I know I read a couple of her books when I was in Britain, but its really hard to tell which ones when the titles are changed.
I do like this author, though.
I do like this author, though.
view 1 comment
Dec 14, 2012
Jina Howell-Forbes
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one
Recommended to Jina by:
Amazon
Did not finish. After five chapters, I still didn't like any of the main characters, and didn't care what happened to them. I usually like Marcia Willett, but not this time. I wish Goodreads had a "chose not to finish" option.
Read this for my Book club and enjoyed it somewhat, but enjoyed the discussion about lifelong friendships even more.
Nov 10, 2012
Kim Leighton matthews
added it
This is the first of her novels. You meet some of her characters that turn up in other novels in this one.
If you like British writers you will like this book. Excellent descriptions of the moors. Real people with human flaws as the main characters.
Sep 29, 2008
Carolynne
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of Rosamund Pilcher, Janet Lambert's Governor Island books, or Land Girls
Shelves:
romance
The first novel by Marcia Willett, this is the story of Kate Webster and Cass Wivenhoe, who meet at age 12 at an English boarding school and are friends for life. They are very different--Cass is free spirited and regularly unfaithful to husband Tom, a decent and loving husband, whereas Kate is faithful to her Navy officer husband, who is condescending, cold, and controlling. Cass' wildness leads to a family tragedy that forms a frame around the central story. This book is also known as First Fr...more
a fun read....I hope to read about these characters again!
Kate and Cass are close friends with very different outlooks. One stays in an unhappy marriage, the other has many affairs. The first chapter is a 'flash-forward' to an event in Cass's life, and clearly overshadows the whole book. Well-written and believable, with hope in the midst of pain.
First read in 2000. Enjoyed the second time of reading, too, eight years later. This is Marcia Willett's first novel, and some of the characters introduced in it re-appear in her later books.
First read in 2000. Enjoyed the second time of reading, too, eight years later. This is Marcia Willett's first novel, and some of the characters introduced in it re-appear in her later books.
I am going to read more of this author's books.
I really liked the way the story went, I felt like both of the wives were quite interesting, different and in very challenging marriages
reminds me of maeve binchy or joanna trollope
I really liked the way the story went, I felt like both of the wives were quite interesting, different and in very challenging marriages
reminds me of maeve binchy or joanna trollope
This book is interesting until about half way through, then it segways into ultimate boredom territory..with extra story lines added in that lend nothing
Light reading, but many British terms that mean more to someone who lives in England!
May 14, 2013
Linda
added it
Apr 01, 2013
Jackie
marked it as to-read
Mar 31, 2013
Magdalena Scott
marked it as to-read
Mar 20, 2013
Danielle Walden
marked it as to-read
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Marcia Willett began her career as a novelist when she was fifty years old. Since that first novel Marcia has written twenty more under her own name as well as a number of short stories. She has also written four books under the pseudonym "Willa Marsh", and is published in more than sixteen countries.
Marcia Willett's early life was devoted to the ballet, but her dreams of becoming a ballerina end...more
More about Marcia Willett...
Marcia Willett's early life was devoted to the ballet, but her dreams of becoming a ballerina end...more
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