Book Review: The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

 

The Shell Seekers. Rosamunde Pilcher. Dell (1989). 582 pages. Genre: Fiction.

First Line: "The taxi, an old Rover smelling of old cigarette smoke, trundled along the empty, country road at an unhurried pace."

Summary:  Penelope Keeling has recently had a heart attack.  She is sixty-four years old and lives by herself at Podmore's Thatch.  Now the doctor has told her she shouldn't live alone.  She thinks that's ridiculous, she is fine.  And besides, she has a housekeeper that comes in several times a week.  However, her oldest daughter insists she must have someone to live with her.  

As Penelope works through these things with her three children, we are shown the saga of their lives. 

My thoughts:  I first read this book over twenty years ago.  I remember having good thoughts about it, but I really didn't remember much of it at all.  However, I do remember that I didn't go on to read anything else by this author.  Now I remember why.

Rosamunde Pilcher has a beautiful writing style.  The prose pulls you in immediately.  Her descriptions of place and people are wonderful and create vivid pictures in your mind.  Her descriptions engage all of your senses and make you feel like you are there.  I understand why many readers love this book.

Unfortunately, I found myself not really enjoying the book all that much.  I was disappointed by the words and actions of the characters, especially those that we were meant to like and root for.  I found it difficult to understand the motivations of Penelope.  She seemed to be a woman who loved people, but she said terrible things about her children and grandchildren.  She had very little good to say about her deceased husband or his mother. And - this next part is SPOILERish - she was unfaithful to her husband and celebrated it as did several other characters in the book - end SPOILER.

I really didn't like any of the characters in the book.  Even though we looked back in Penelope's life, I didn't feel like I ever really understood her motivations or those of her children.  However, I did enjoy the descriptions of Cornwall and the section of the book that covered the war years there.  

I can't say that I recommend this book, but I am glad to have reread it to form my own opinion of it.  I am definitely in the minority when it comes to my opinion.  If you are curious about this book, I encourage you to try it for yourself.

Quotes:

"She saw the house, long and low, red-tiled, hung with bougainvillaea and trellises of vines.  Heard cowbells and cocks crowing.  Smelt the warm resin of pine and juniper, blown in from the sea on a warm wind.  Felt again the nailing heat of the Mediterranean sun."

"And everywhere were evidences of the obviously cultured man who had occupied this place for twenty-five years.  Hundreds of books, not just on shelves, but spilling over onto tables, window-ledges, and the cupboard beside his bed."

"Fires lighted in the sitting room and the dining room, drinks set out, wine opened to chambre.  Here, in the kitchen, the air was filled with the scent of slowly roasting sirloin, baking onions, and crisping potatoes."

"Beyond, all was sunlit, the sands a dazzling white, the deep-blue sea dancing with sunpennies."