The Children's Hour (by Marcia Willett)

(Amazon UK link)

I've read almost everything by Marcia Willett. While I loved some of her books, I was less than impressed by the one prior to this ('Forgotten Laughter') so I approached this one with a little uncertainty. Was it going to be another with a confused time-line? Would there be too much 'telling' rather than 'showing', or too much unnecessary information about the characters?

However, I was drawn into 'The Children's Hour' almost immediately. The main focus of the story is two elderly sisters, Mina and Nest. Mina is the elder, and is a delightful caring type of person who has looked after her wheelchair-bound sister since an accident that killed another sister some years previously. Their lives are about to be disrupted by the arrival of yet another sister, Georgie, who appears to be starting Alzheimer's disease.

Georgie, it becomes clear, isn't a very likeable person. But both Mina and Nest are concerned that she's going to let out some secrets from their past. The book then unfolds gently, with the secrets being gradually revealed. There are inevitably many flashbacks to their childhood and early adult lives. But rather than being intrusive or annoying, they work extremely well. Instead of the awkward pluperfect tense, Marcia Willett adopts the present tense in the memories or dreams from the past, which is a clever way of making it seem more realistic.

There are young people in the book too, particularly Lyddie. She is a favourite niece, who is married to someone that neither Mina nor Nest like very much. Her story is intertwined with theirs, as are many other subplots and several dogs.

I found the characters believable, and the story often moving. It's not a short novel (440 pages) but I read it in about three days. Once I had started, I could barely put it down.

Marcia Willett has sometimes been compared to Rosamunde Pilcher in her writing.  I've tended to feel that's a bit of an exaggeration as far as her previous books go. But in 'The Children's Hour' she did seem to reach those heights, both in the writing and in the plotting. There are some surprises as the 'secrets' are revealed, as well as some which were fairly easily guessed.

The ending wasn't quite what I expected. Yet it was sensitively done and left open a hopeful future for all involved. I had half-guessed one of the outcomes revealed towards the end, yet not the way the plot was going to go.

All in all, I rate this very highly - and definitely one of this author's best; the only other comparable one, in my view, is 'A Week in Winter'.

(I've now written another review of 'The Children's Hour' after re-reading four and a half years later)