Thea's Parrot

by Marcia Willett

George Lampeter certainly isn't looking for a wife but as soon as the forty-three-year-old submarine commander sets eyes on Thea, twenty years his junior, he's found his partner for life. Just about everyone knows of George's long-standing affair with Felicity Mainwaring, the intimidating wife of a naval colleague. Her husband's death the previous year had prompted many to speculate that George would end up marrying his formidable mistress. No one expected it more than Felicity herself and as her letters and calls to George go unanswered she becomes suspicious. He somehow manages to duck Felicity's attempts to contact him long enough to marry Thea, and the couple embark on a harmonious life together in the heart of rural Devon. Thea enjoys matrimony immensely and through the naval network, finds a soul mate in Polly, another youthful bride, but not with such an understanding husband. But everything changes for Thea and George when she mentions that an old friend of his had dropped in for a chat while he was in London - Felicity Mainwaring.

Genres: Fiction

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 1995

About the author

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 ended when she grew out of the classical proportions required. She had always loved books, and a family crisis made her take up a new career as a novelist - a decision she had never regretted.

Reviews

[Tracey- Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice story , i liked the ending.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thea inherits a parrot who helps her become more independent. George falls in love. Minor characters from the previous novel by this author are included, which is a little confusing for someone who hasn't read it, but enjoyable for those who have. Good character studies on the whole, and clever plotting.

Previously read in 2000 but mostly forgotten, other than one or two rather dramatic parts.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, lets be honest. This is a three star novel but! Depending on why you would read it it is worth 4 stars as it is a warm embracing portrayal of English village life. Having not lived this life, Willett has still managed to idolatirise this lifestyle and her characterisation, whilst possibly unrealistic, makes for the BEST holiday escapist reading. Makes you want to live there too. Hey, who doesn't like reading a feel good, warm, fuzzy novel!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love getting to know the characters in "First Friends" more closely!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as I can recall this is my first Marcia Willett and I looked forward to it as the author was described as being in the tradition of Rosamund Pilcher. I’m afraid I don’t entirely agree with this, although I can see why it was said.
Overall, for me the writing lacks the easy grace of RP and the story didn’t hold together as I expected.
There is one section of the book involving an escaped murderer that seemed out of sync with the rest of the writing. I guess it was put in to add tension, but just jarred in my opinion. At this point I was thinking 2 stars, but eventually upped this to 3 when the rest of the storyline came to fruition.
As this currently shows a rating of 4.27, I’m obviously out of touch with the author’s usual audience. No right and wrong, just this one didn’t work for me. I will try another though.

[anthony gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Another well written book by Marcia Willett. A great plot with lots of humour and pathos. I love her good use of the English language. Can't wait to read another of her novels.

[Andra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Marcia Willett, good characterisation, good descriptions, plenty going on, you meet people from other books, always feel like I'm there rather than watching. I've read this before but lots that I'd not remembered.

[Mrs. Kath Mudie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful read, and has elements to move, enlighten, make you laugh and please the senses. You really grow to love the characters and feel empathy with their plights and emotions. It is so well written I loved it. A big thanks to Marcia Willett.

[Katie Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another old favourite. I love the first half of this more than the second but it's always a good one to read when I am feeling a bit bleurgh.

[Donna Mcnab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recurring characters always make these books interesting. I also found that I laughed a lot while reading this book. It really was very funny in places.

[Kathy Spann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many, many characters in this sweeping novel.

[Denise Benoit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read at the lake. Mid’s book

[Jane Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kind of jerky plot line.

[Caro (carosbookcase) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1995, Thea’s Parrot is the second book Marcia Willett wrote. It picks up three years after Those Who Serve: A moving story of love, friendship, laughter and tears (aka First Friends) with Cass and Kate from that book as side characters in this one. Felicity Mainwaring and George Lampeter, peripheral characters from First Friends are the focus of this one.

Felicity’s husband Mark died of cancer a year ago. For years she’s been having an affair with George, and with her husband gone she expects George to ask her to marry him, especially now that a suitable amount of time has passed since her husband’s death.

George has other ideas. In truth, he’s been trying to break it off with Felicity for years, but as he has a distinct dislike of conflict he always finds himself back with her.

Then he meets Thea, the great niece of one of his mother’s friends. She’s young, full of life, and uncomplicated. Everything Felicity is not. He has always failed to free himself from Felicity in the past, but she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if he could manage to marry Thea before Felicity finds out he has found someone else.

It’s such a pleasant surprise to find characters I already know from ‘First Friends’ in this one. This is the reason why I wanted to start reading Marcia Willett’s books in order. Characters do reappear in her books, but I was having trouble keeping track of them when reading the books out of order.

In some ways, this book feels more like two books. In the first half the focus is on Thea and her marriage with George and the threat George’s former mistress poses on their happiness. Then in the second half Thea’s friend Polly is the spoke the rest of the story revolves around.

While there were a lot of characters and a number of storylines in this book, they were all interesting and felt both purposeful and necessary to the story. The theme of not simply living your life through others and taking the chance to really live, not just exist, tied the storylines together nicely.

As for the title, ‘Thea’s Parrot’… Well, I still think it’s a bit of a mad title for a book, though I have to admit that it works, in a way. Thea’s parrot, Percy, left to her by her great-aunt does sort of tie Thea and Polly’s storylines together. I don’t want to risk giving too much away, so I’ll just leave my explanation there.

This book has a good chunk in the second half with a massive snowfall, cars are run off the road, babies are born, and a number of characters end up in unlikely places, coming together in a dramatic climax. It was very intense!

If you can manage it, I highly recommend reading the second half of this book in one sitting, like I did. I did not want to put it down!

[Eleanor Groom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, as are all of Marcia Willitt's books. The recurring theme is British Naval wives.

[Charlie Trafford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favourite and not really sure why, the first page didn't really grab me but I carried on, okay....ish I guess.