The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Shell Seekers
Book Review: Best Pilcher Work
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my favorite of Rosamunde Pilcher's works. I read this a long time ago, and recently re-read it...and it was just as enjoyable. A sprawling novel with carefully drawn characters, and wonderful prose, I wish that I could give this book more than five stars. If you are tired of authors who dumb down their stories for a fast beach read, this book is for you. If you want a story that will stay with you long after you put it down, and may even cause you to lose sleep so you can read that last chapter, this book is for you. This is an intelligent family saga with romance, intrigue, and very thoughtful and colorful storylines that weave a beautiful, enjoyable tapestry. One of my favorite books of all time.Book Review: Can't say enough good things about this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read! I actually read this book quite some time ago, and it was the first book by R. Pilcher that I read. Since then, I have purchased every book she has written. Her vivid and rich descriptions of the people and places she writes about make me want to hop a plane and go visit. Penelope Keeling is a character that is real and believable, from her memories of her childhood to her thoughts of her grown children and their future. This story brings a realistic view of two of Penelope's grown children whose only thoughts are of the money that could come from the sale of Penelope's father's painting. And of her third child (also grown) who only wants her mother's happiness. Rosamunde Pilcher has a real winner with this story.Book Review: Disappointed when I finished...wanted it to go on and on....
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if my review can do this book justice. I loved this book. Before you know it, you're pulled in, and by the time it's over, you don't want it to end. It's such a lovely, and realistic, story of family, friends, and lost loves.It starts off with the individual and present stories of Penelope and her children. From the way the characters are written, you get a true sense of each character, specifically her children, Noel and Nancy. Even so, at times you hope that they will surprise you and actually show some compassion towards their mother or each other.
What truly drew me in, however, were the the flashbacks depicting Penelope's years during the war. It displays the significance of the devastation that the war had on those living close to it. The relationship between Penelope and her parents are especially touching. What can I say - Penelope is a special person, and everyone seems to know that except her children (the exception being, perhaps, Olivia). But what makes the story even more special is that Penelope knows her children's faults and accepts them. This isn't a story of a woman scorned or bitter. It's the story of a woman who loved, lost, and went back to her childhood days and relived them again. She had no regrets (well, maybe one....), and she was happy with her decisions.
A very special book.
Book Review: Don't Seek "Shell Seekers"
Summary: 1 Stars
There is good and bad in everyone, but Pilcher's characters are boringly one-dimentional. Anyone who does not follow the heroine like a slathering lapdog, agreeing with her every whim (some quite questionable, like adultery), is presented as stupid, ugly, fat, and bordering on evil. (The elder daughter, a grown woman, who was overweight (which apparently to Pilcher also means unintelligent), was presented as childish and not even able to add in her head, her children ugly and undesirable company - and this by grandma!) A GOOD mother loves all her children, and does not easily see (or admit) to their shortcomings. Especially she does not discuss these faults in length with her "favorite" child, whose own qualities of self-service and snobbery are presented quite differently: (If) "...the nicer side of her COMPLEX PERSONALITY would shrivel and die and she would be left with nothing but her INBORN INTELLIGENCE and her RELENTLESS, DRIVING AMBITION." I found myself disliking both women. I'm certain that wasn't the intent.Book Review: Emotionally wrenching if occasionally uneven
Summary: 4 Stars
The Shell Seekers is one of those impossibly romantic tearjerkers that one can't put down. It's a wonderful read, even though Pilcher has a tendancy to go down unneccessary paths and wander aimlessly. That said, I'll admit I cried hysterically at the end, one of the few books to actually make me sob.