First Friends

There's a solid story to be found in this novel, the first of Willett's 11-year career (in its first American publication), but there's also a lot of clutter. The book follows best friends Kate Webster and Cassandra Wivenhoe from 1964 to 1981, as they endure boarding school, the courtship of British naval officers and less-than-satisfying marriages. Willett details life for the navy wives while their husbands are at sea, fraught with loneliness, drab quarters, frequent relocations and even more frequent extramarital affairs (by sailors and spouses alike). Promiscuous Cass thrives in the arrangement, but Willett doles out punishment through the death of Cass's 15-year-old daughter—revealed in the prologue but unexplained until the end of the book. Staid Kate, meanwhile, remains true to her cruel, loveless husband, witnessing the infidelity of those around her. Willett has a tendency to tell certain dramatic scenes rather than show them ("By the time that it was all over—and just as dreadful as she feared—she was relieved to see him go back to sea"), which confuses and frustrates. (July)