Rating: 
Summary: A book that drew me in.
Review: When I first began to read this novel I thought oh boy this book is so very descriptive I'm never going to get into this, but I pushed on. About half way through I realized had it not been so very descriptive I wouldn't have fell in love with the characters. This was the very first book that I had to set down. It was one particular place in the book that I was so moved I just couldn't read on. Kind of like the place in a movie where you would start crying. Anyway I thought that it was a wonderful book and would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Girl's Life
Review: Judith Dunbar, who is 13years old when the story begins in 1935. She was sent to boarding school in Cornwall because her parents are posted to Singapore.She makes friends and a new life but never stops missing her family. Judith developes into adulthood in the midst of wealth, tragedy, and romance. I loved the book and I know you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Story but...
Review: I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't seen the movie first. The movie was quite different from her book. The specific scenes that I was really interested in reading about were not the same , or not there at all. I love the characters in her books! She has a way of making you live thru them.
Rating:
Summary: My first Pilcher read and still my favorite.
Review: A friend turned me onto Pilcher by loaning me this book some years back. Since that time, I've read all of Pilcher's books, but this remains my favorite. It is an engaging saga spanning approximately 50 years time, with much of the book covering the course of WWI as well as the after-effects of this war. The story begins with a young woman and follows both her own family and the connections she makes with the family of a boarding school friend. Although the book is more likely to appeal to women, is it not a romance novel. In addition to enjoying the read, I found it to be educational as well--a wonderful historical novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book for a Winter Weekend
Review: I had read this book a few years ago, but decided to check it out from my library last Saturday before a snowstorm arrived. What a great book to be snowed in with. In addition to being a good love story involving several couples, it is a great book on life as it was before and during WW II in Great Britain. The hardships the people endured are told in great, and sometimes amusing, detail. No matter how bad things become people just carry on. A good cup of tea seems the answer to everything! Descriptions of food and houses are thorough. I would hope that younger women would read this for the historical value. It is a way of life that will never return.
Rating:
Summary: A heart-warming story that I would recommend to everyone.
Review: This is firstly the story of Judith Dunbar but also tells the story of a wonderful family the Carey-Lewises. The characters are so real that by the time I finished this book they were all like friends. While reading it I laughed and I cried, never before has one novel made me do both. My 84 year old Nan read this and loved it, my 58 year old Dad read this and loved it so when it was passed on to me, at the time an 18 year old, I did not expect to get beyond the end of chapter one. Three days later as I closed the book I was sorry it was over. This book is fantastic. The UK paperback edition is 1016 pages long and yet it felt as though it was over in no time. I have read this book twice and that is not something I have done with many of the thousands of books I have read. I would recommend that anyone who likes to read, read this book. You'll have a wonderful time and make some new friends along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Never gets boring!
Review: Never judge a book by it's cover- but when I first got the book I didn't want to read it because the cover looked less exciting than other books I read. When I finally ran out of reading material, I picked up this book and was so engrossed I ended up reading cozily in an armchair. This book is my absolute favorite, having read it 4 times in a row. I'm looking forward to buying Rosamunde Pilcher's other novels.
Rating: 
Summary: You Will Make New Friends
Review: This was the first book by Pilcher I ever read. Strangely, I have very mixed feelings about this book. Pilcher fans will certainly love it. The author does a wonderful job to get you acquainted with her characters. By the end, I truly felt that I had personally met all the characters in this book. It felt as though I had made new friends. I will likely never forget Judith, the heroine, and all the many people she meets during those years described in the book. Pilcher's way of describing (often in excruciating detail) every scene, room, mood, the weather, clothes, food, etc. allowed me to actually be right there with her characters. In that sense, this novel will stay with me forever. On the other hand, Pilcher seems to struggle somewhat when attempting to describe her characters' feelings and thoughts. Often, I was unsure why a character behaved a certain way and why he or she felt a certain way about others. Pilcher does a great job describing the war years from the British perspective. I really felt like I was living these horrible war years with them. I often felt tempted to make myself a nice cup of tea because tea seems to be the British answer to everything (loss, grief, joy, relaxation, etc.). However, there were points in this novel where I played with the thought of abandoning it. Too little seemed to happen to justify the pages and pages of text. But this I could not do. I felt compelled to wait it out with Judith and the others and see what life (or Pilcher) had in store for them. That is why I was so disappointed in the end. It seemed as though Ms. Pilcher finally got bored with her characters and abruptly felt the need to just bring it all to a conclusion. After all the heartbreak, longing, joys, losses and disappointments, the end seemed irritatingly flat. Too bad, I wish I could have felt rewarded for sticking it out with Judith and her friends. Read this if you have a lot of free time and are a very patient reader. You will fall in love with Judith, her family, the Carey-Lewis family and all the others. Once you're done, you will feel as though you made new friends. You may be disappointed in the conclusion and your patience will be tried along the way but, maybe, getting to know these characters will make it all worthwhile for you. Oh, and don't be surprised if you develop the habit of drinking tea instead of coffe and if you find yourself booking a vacation to the English seashore.
Rating:
Summary: Long, warm, soap opera
Review: My rating may be deceptive as I would not have finished all 728 pages of this book if I had not enjoyed it. I was in the mood for a good WW II novel, but this is really a soap opera with a World War II backdrop. Coming Home is too long by half, filled with endless descriptions of everything: clothes, scenery, people, probably pillowcases and cooking pots. At scene painting, Pilcher is outstanding. She made me want to visit Cornwall. The scenes of English country life in the 1930s were idyllic -- too idyllic -- and the heroine is too goody-goody to be believed, but the scenes of loss and longing in wartime were effective. Pilcher is good at tugging on the heartstrings and she knows how to tell a story.
Rating:
Summary: A lovely book - 4 and a half stars really
Review: This is a very gentle and entertaining book, typical of Ms Pilcher and it really does show how she is a master of this style of writing. We have well drawn and defined characters, beautiful countryside and exotic locations, and the usual measure of heartache, angst and happiness. However if I have a criticism, and it is a very small one, it is that there are occasions where the characters simply don't quite gel in their relationships with each other. The grand passions presented fall just a little short of being as grand as they should be, and the novel is a little sadder because of it. But only a very little sadder - it is a wonderful and lovely book, and I recommend it highly.
| 
