A Nest of Magpies

by Sybil Marshall

"Marshall's entertaining first novel, set in the 1960s in the secluded town of Old Swithinford, England, is a solid historical romance... The author limns a sympathetic protagonist whose self-analysis is perceptive and complex." - Publishers Weekly

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, Historical Fiction

484 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Born Sybil Mary Edwards, she was educated at Ramsey Heights Elementary School, 1919-1923, Ramsey Grammar School
1924-1932, Exhall Grange Emergency Training College, Coventry, 1948-1949 and New Hall, University of Cambridge, 1960-1962. At Cambridge she gained English Hons. Class 2:1 (Tripos completed in 2 years).

She became a teacher and lecturer in primary education and wrote a variety of books on education as well as a collection of fiction and memoirs.

Reviews

[Andrée]

That rare thing - a book too good to hurry.
Loved it but maybe that's because I've reached the age of nostalgia....am even wistful for things I'm too young to have experienced!
Lovely story with plenty of excellent women characters

[Elisabeth Ahlefeldt-Laurvig]

A charming book, could seem a little old fashioned, but it is not, it it supposed to take place in the late 60'ies and catches that time perfectly.

[Kate]

"At eighty years of age, Sybil Marshall has written an extraordinary first novel. Brimming with the rich detail of human experience, A Nest of Magpies is a love story filled with compassion, tumult, and wisdom.

"Fran, who moves back to Old Swithinford to find the placid village life of her childhood memories, finds instead a maelstrom of discontent, sweeping from the stateliest mansion to the tiniest cottage. Just as the villagers are swept up in creeping modernization, Fran herself is swept away as her longtime friendship with William blossoms into romance. In the end, Fran and the residents of Old Swithinford learn that it is neither precedence nor progress that should direct them, but rather their own sense of possibility.

"Any first book by an author of Sybil Marshall's experience is an event of note. A novel of such singular scope and humanity as A Nest of Magpies is cause for celebration."
~~front flap

At 472 pages, this was a pretty weighty tome. I quite enjoyed the first part of the book, which dealt with the village and the villagers and the farmers roundabout, and the "cuckoo in the nest," whom Fran becomes entangled with when she boards with her until the renovations to Benedict House, her childhood home.
The plot begins to thicken, and become labyrinth as the book goes on and more and more characters are woven into the story. In the end, the book becomes a homily on acceptance of change while retaining what's valuable about the old ways, but a good many people are tragically hurt in the process, which made it a less than joyful read.

[Rich Lambert]

This was such a slooowwwwww read. There was a strong feeling of village-i-ness in the plot, characters, scenery, etc but sadly that made things drag a fair bit. I got quite sick of the long speeches written in dialectic voice and of Fran's (the main character) presumptiveness. I get that I'm not the main audience for this book about changing morality post war but I didnt think her views had aged in a reader-friendly way. Not sure I'll be going back to Marshall's work

[Mapi]

2.5, meno 0.5 per la delusione.
La prima metà del libro mi aveva catturato e interessato, la seconda metà, però...
Le lezioncelle di (dubbia) moralità e certe melensaggini mi hanno gradualmente reso antipatica la lettura.
Peccato, l'ambientazione mi piaceva parecchio, come anche certi personaggi.

[Sylvia Richardson]

Absolutely love the story.
Sybil’s has a first rate power description that draws you into the story.

[Penny]

A village tale, Miss Marple without the murders. The 1950s are giving way to the 1960s and even rural England is suffering the changes. A gentle but penetrating view of a bucolic past.

[Julie]

A lovely first novel written by an 80 year old author! Set in a British village- my favorite location.

[Heidi Campbell]

This is a very good book but I have a very hard time following a story with too many characters. I do understand why there were so many characters, it was about an old village filled with people😏but it was a very well told story.

[Anne Kiely]

I loved this book - it's long, but well worth the read.

[Jane Lewis]

very good, fascinating time piece.

this gave us lots of insight regarding life in 1950s-70s and of East Anglia.

Characters well drawn, recommended