The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The first time I read The Shell Seekers I must have been 14. My ‘auntie’ Mildred had lent it to me (it is ‘auntie’ Mildred who inspired and encouraged my love of reading) as she did many books but I remember this one was pure joy; I was caught up and swept away by the mesmirising descriptions of Cornwall, pre-and post as well as during, WW2. This was probably my first awareness of Cornwall and it made me fall in love with that county well before I even visited it. But it was more than that because The Shell Seekers had everything my lonely 14 year old heart could have wanted; love and passion; wonderful, lifelike characters and a story through the years that captured my imagination and has never really left.
Penelope is a wonderful eccentric character, full of life, personality and understanding. Her three children are very different but all loved equally with their own idiosyncrasies and ideas of what is important. I love how we first meet the elderly but stubborn Penelope (oh, how like my ‘auntie’ in that respect!) and are taken back in time to discover her story, how she grew up by the sea in Cornwall with her elderly artist father and young French mother, an unconventional family to say the least but Penelope falls for convention and leaves behind her beloved Cornwall. The story really centres around the painting The Shell Seekers, painted by her father, and now worth a fortune and how Penelope’s children, once discovering the value of it have their own ideas and plans for the painting. But into Penelope’s life have come two wonderful young people who make her feel young and free again. Each character has a story that evokes interest and all the individual stories come together into one brilliant and enchanting novel that deserves to be read and read again.