First Friends

by Marcia Willett

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 wise understanding of love, loss, marriage, and parenthood is conveyed with honesty, generosity, and compassion.

Genres: Chick Lit, Friendship, Fiction, British Literature, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, 20th Century

402 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

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

[Jina Howell-Forbes · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Lynn Shurden · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Another · Rating 2 out of 5]

A seemingly endless round of tawdry affairs conducted by very silly women and obnoxious men. Found it a bit boring. Difficult for me to like any of the characters.

[Norabee · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 doesn’t seem to value her- he seems only concerned with how she can make his life better without having any regard for her or her happiness. She feels alone during his frequent and lengthy absences, but she finds her identity when she immerses herself in the upbringing of her twin boys.
Cass loves her husband, but can’t seem to help “stepping out” on him from time to time, even her four children aren’t enough to keep Cass occupied. She looks forward to the opportunities that come her way whenever her husband has to leave for long stretches while working on a navy submarine – she finds excitement when near misses threaten to expose her infidelities – in fact; she seems to thrive on them.

Marcia Willett weaves the tale of these two friends and the events that shape their lives and their devotion to one another, despite the differences they may find with each others’ decisions – the hallmark of a true friend, in my opinion. Willett shows that decisions made for selfish reasons can come back to haunt you and that in the end, the best things in life are true love, family and friendship. Her writing style and her approach to life’s trials is distinctly charming and can make every-day choices seem delightful – having a cup of tea can become “have a cuppa?” when asked in Marcia Willett novel.

This is my first time reading one of Willett’s books and it won’t be my last. She is remarkably talented and possesses a distinct literary voice. I’ve found another favorite author in Marcia Willett and I look forward to hearing her stories and reading many of her books.

[Deb]

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.

[Ellie Revert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun summer read--all about relationships.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Marcia Willett and was happy to follow some of my favorite characters thru their lives.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this author. I do read from the library and there are not as many Large Print books by this author, so it is slowing me down from reading right through her titles. She was recommended as similar to Rosamund Pilcher and sure enough, she really is. Thankfully, since Pilcher doesn't have as many books.

I rotate between thrillers and family sagas when I get tired of thrillers and this author is just what I need when I've read too many thrillers. [g] This book was very interesting, I love the settings. I enjoy the characters, but in this particular book, there seemed to be an emphasis on cheating spouses through the whole book, like a main theme. It left me wondering about the reason the author was so focused on it, until the end of the story and the ending gave me a different view of what the author was trying to do.

I'm looking forward to her next book.

[Ziggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3 and a half really. The first half of the book is all about Kate (and Cass) and rates 4 stars. Then, suddenly all these other characters appear and it's no longer about Kate, although she is mentioned now and then and is involved at the end of the book.
So, the plot is a bit muddled. I feel the author should have planned the framework of the book better before she wrote it. This is an early Marcia Willett, so hopefully her plots get better. The Dartmoor scenery sounds magical, though.

[ANTC]

Skimmed this. Not for me. This is written with a very old style and POV, with lots of cheating on both sides, zero romance, and zero remorse. The cheating is just accepted and normalized. The book ends in a state where all parties are likely to cheat.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the front of the book this author is compared to Pilcher as "just as gifted". No, no. Not by a long shot. This book was exhausting. Pilcher's books had more depth.

[Bookworman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. One of her earlier books full of unlikeable characters.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also published as Those Who Serve

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one as I have her others, and was totally invested in the main characters. However I did find there were just entirely too many minor characters to keep up with in the process.

[Jacqueline Moran · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get passed a few pages !!!!

[Caro (carosbookcase) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Charlotte had fallen and the twins were helping her up. Guy was brushing her down while Giles had his arm around her, comforting her. Oliver strolled up eating an apple and held it out casually, offering her a bite.
“Suddenly, uncontrollably, Kate began to cry. Great tearing sobs shook her body. Tears spurted from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She turned blindly and Cass took her into her arms, quietly, comfortingly, and stood holding her, watching the trees that danced and bowed in the wind beyond the window.” — First Friends (a.k.a. Those Who Serve: A moving story of love, friendship, laughter and tears) by Marcia Willett

While I was waiting for this book to arrive from the library, I made the fatal mistake of looking it up on Goodreads and reading a couple of the reviews. Once I jumped out of that rabbit hole I was left wondering if I should even bother reading this book. That is how negative the reviews were.

Now that I’ve finished reading this first book of Marcia Willett’s, all I can say is that you should take every review you read with a grain of salt. Tastes differ. Enough said.

Cass and Kate meet at school and remain close friends into adulthood. Fresh from school they both marry naval officers and as they each pick up and move all over the UK, crossing and recrossing each other’s paths, their families grow, and these women share the joys and challenges of family life, especially married life with husbands who spend more time away at sea than at home.

Beyond the friendship between Cass and Kate, this book deals a lot with infidelity, and other challenges in marriage. Death and loss are also dealt with, but to a lesser extent than in some of Marcia Willett’s other books.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Admittedly, it was a bit soap opera-ish at times and most of the men besides Cass’s father, the General, made me cringe. If nothing else, read this book for the relationship between Kate and Cass’s father. It’s lovely.

Admittedly, this wasn't my favourite book of Marcia Willett's, but as a fan of her writing it was very satisfying to read her first book, especially because a lot of the same characters and families reappear in her later books. Even if Cass and Kate don't play big parts in the other books, I found it interesting to be there at the inception of those connections being forged between the characters.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that was certainly not a romance, but instead a look at the rather tawdry lives of the women who married the officers of the British Navy. Infidelity, betrayals, abusive husbands, sad unrequited love - - - -yikes. I liked some of the characters, I truly did, and when I read the next book in this series, “A Friend of the Family" (which I was very fond of) it was nice to have an understanding and a follow-up to the original characters you meet in “First Friends”.

But - - -and this is a big but - - - this was not up to Willett’s usual standards of gentle English manners and kind people helping their neighbors. Instead, this clearly pre-AIDS novel focused on one light romp in bed to another.

I would recommend this book ONLY if you wanted a bit more background in Willett’s next novel - - -but frankly, I think I would still skip this one and just move on to “A Friend of the Family”.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 interesting thing about that part of the story is that Cass's daughter is a chip off the old block.

Enjoyed this book very much.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

From page one you know that Charlotte, the 15 year old daughter of Cass, dies, but Julian of Norwich's "and all shall be well" quote on the last page still made me cry. I was pretty enthralled for most of the 400 pages of this novel but I did get a big bogged down towards the end, tired of the comings and goings of Cass, Kate, Harriet, Hammy and Jane and wondering how it all was going to wrap up. This is the second Marcia Willett I've read, and I am thankful there are plenty more to add to my "to read" pile.

[Joni · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate and Cass great friends, Kate, dependable; Cass free spirit.

[Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sad story about how people's decisions can affect so many other people.
**Best quote: "Their passions and desires seemed to have been expunged as if they had never been: such pointless, shameful schemings they seemed now that pay day had come round and they had to meet the bill."

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[Lymor · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun read....I hope to read about these characters again!

[Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like British writers you will like this book. Excellent descriptions of the moors. Real people with human flaws as the main characters.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for my Book club and enjoyed it somewhat, but enjoyed the discussion about lifelong friendships even more.