Does your father or mother have a favorite book? The one they call "their favorite book" every time they talk about it or pick it off their bookshelf? Well this one is my father's favorite. He just reread it for the umpteenth time so I decided to get my copy off my bookshelf and read it again too just to be on par with my Dad. Then we could talk about it again. One more time.
He is now 96 but when he was turning 90 I wrote to Rosamunde Pilcher and told her that my Dad was turning 90 and that she was "his favorite author" in the whole world. Would she consider making his birthday one to remember by autographing one of her books and sending it to me so I could give it to my Dad for his birthday? I would pay of course for it and shipping, etc.
Lo and behold I got an email from her son, Robin, who said they would be glad to do just that and they sent an autographed book to me over the sea and never asked for payment. I wanted to fly over the Atlantic and give them both a huge hug. They really made my Dad's birthday, or rather I did through them. It's a group thing. He has his signed copy, with much pride, on his shelf.
But of all of Rosamunde Pilcher's books, The Shell Seekers is my Dad's all time favorite.
I am not going to tell you what or who are The Shell Seekers. You will have to read the book in order to figure out that mystery. But let's just say that I wouldn't mind having a Shell Seeker in my home.
At any rate this book is primarily about Penelope Keeling who has had a very colorful life but it isn't over yet. We get to feel through her eyes and memory what she has lived and loved through. We get to see her three grown children through her thoughts and how different the siblings all are from each other and from Rosamunde as well. Who really "gets her"? We want to be Rosamunde's friend. She is intelligent, giving and highly passionate underneath her simple attire. We want to sit in her tiny but delicious kitchen and eat her homey dishes or sit with her in front of her fire and have a drink and chat. We get to understand what The Shell Seekers means to her and how it has effected her life.
My paperback is 582 pages of delight. It is resting once again on my bookshelf among its other Pilcher novels until I reach for it again, thinking of my father, and reading it with him in mind.
Next you will hear about my mother's favorite all time book which I am in the joy of reading now. It's thick so hold on to your cup of coffee. It will be a week or two before you see the post about it.
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