Rating: 
Summary: An absolutely beautiful tale
Review: "The Shell Seekers" is a true modern masterpiece - a great book with a fascinating and endearing story, wonderful characters with complex and believable natures, and set in some of the most picutresque country side in the world. It is difficult to do this book enough justice - it is simply magnificent. Have a laugh and a good cry with this book (and you would have to be very strong not to shed a tear!), and hold it close to your heart.It is a book to love and treasure and always recommend to others.
Rating:
Summary: On my top 10 favorite list
Review: I read this book for the first time ten years ago. Since then, I've read every Rosamunde Pilcher book -- and I still think this one is her best. This is one of the only books I've read more than once. I love when I find myself laughing and crying and smiling while reading a book...this is one of those!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best!
Review: The most wonderful book I have ever read. My mother-in-law spent hundreds of dollars on a painting simply because it remided her of Penelope's cottage. We wanted to be there with her. You don't know what your missing if you pass this one up!
Rating: 
Summary: A charming story
Review: I usally find books like this sappy and hard to get through, but this one was diffrent. The writing was excellent and the charcters real. I always admire writers who came create three dimensional charcters, and Pilcher does just that. Penlope's has three children, and she does not get along well with two of them, Nacy and Noel. These children are money hungry and think their mother owes them more than she has already given them. However Pilcher makes it clear that Penlope loves all her children and the reader winds up having some sympathy for them. The novel manges to come full circle and charm the reader. It is clear that Oliva, the daughter Penlope gets along with best, will become like her mother. The manner in which their lives parelle each other is the central focus of the novel and charms the reader. A great summer read.
Rating:
Summary: Characters or caricatures?
Review: Although I love Rosamunde Pilcher's writing, I think that The Shell Seekers is one of her weaker books. It bothers me that Pilcher obviously dislikes several of her main characters, especially Nancy and Noel. If Pilcher had made more of an effort to fully develop these characters instead of leaving them as caricatures, this would have been a better story.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing is so fine as a life well lived
Review: This is one of my favorite top five books I've ever read.Penelope's life and her children's spring to life from the pages. The unique relationship that she shares with each of them is entirely beleivable and absorbing. The joys, heartache and sorrows of life are so lovingly displayed,that I find myself laughing and crying out loud each time I read it. Because of R. Pilchers story,I planted Michealmas daisies in my own garden and every late summer when they come into glorious lavender,pink and purple bloom, I remember Penelopes garden and I must reread the story. Every Mother and daughter should read this and share this with each other.It will enrich your life!
Rating:
Summary: I want to live in this book!
Review: This is the book I pick up when I am at a loss for something to read. I have probably read it ten times. It is comforting, wonderfully descriptive (especially about the food), and hopeful. Ms. Pilcher is the best at drawing characters that are real, characters you would love to meet and have as friends. I will be forever thankful that this book was recommended to me, and I am patiently awaiting Pilcher's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Book
Review: This is one of my all time favorite books! A must read
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful book
Review: I keep coming back to this book, re-reading it when nothing else interests me. The characters are so real. The story of life in England during the war is so vivid. Then the children and how they turn out is so interesting. I discover something new each time I read it. The author has captured a wonderful family with all of its oddities. Great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Much more than you think it will be
Review: Sometimes a writer believes in her story so completely that she creates something beyond the limits of her talent. That is Rosamunde Pilcher's achievement in "The Shell Seekers." Ms. Pilcher generally writes nice stories for women, but here she exposes a touchstone that obviously means a great deal to her, and her sincerity and conviction come through on every page. This beautiful story of love beyond and across time, of one life lived with courage and self-awareness, will move and inspire you. I return to this book when I feel overwhelmed and depressed because it cheers me and reminds me what is really important. The writers of "serious" fiction believe the world is a sad, dreary, complex place. This book reminds you that the world always has been, and always will be, a wonderful place where small pleasures bring great happiness, where love warms and sustains even the most weary heart, and where each day might bring a wonderful revelation. Yes, sometimes the book is amusingly English, especially with its taken-for-granted system of two classes: those who clean house, and those who employ housecleaners. But overwhelmingly, this book is a treature, and I envy those of you who will discover it for the first time. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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