- Paperback
- Publisher: Dell; Reprint edition (Jan 2 1989)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0440202043
- ISBN-13: 978-0440202042
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 11.2 x 4.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
On the heels of a hasty wartime marriage, Penelope Keeling is left to repent at leisure in the English seaside town of Porthkerris, where her artist father and her French mother are spending the duration of World War II. Safe in the embracing arms of that warm household, Penelope forgets her sour husband and takes a lover, and in that relationship, too, she weathers the war's privations and its hardest blows. In a beautifully detailed family saga that shifts effortlessly back and forth in time, Pilcher (Under Gemini) recounts Penelope's story and that of her three children. When their grandfather's work suddenly comes into vogue, Nancy, obsessed over status, and sleek Noel, adept at getting the most and giving the least, join in urging their mother to sell The Shell Seekers, a painting that gives her great joy. Only Olivia, a cool and collected magazine editor, refuses to be party to their barely concealed avarice. Pilcher's 13th book is a satisfying and savory family novel, in which rich layers of description and engagingly flawed characters more than make up for the occasional cliche. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; Troll Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
As this absorbing saga of a modern English family opens, 64-year-old Penelope Keeling is returning to her country house following a heart attack, and her three adult children have varying reactions to the news. The narrative is actually a series of deftly interwoven vignettes that shift back and forth in time; each chapter centers on one of the principal players in the family's history. The unifying thread is an oil painting entitled "The Shell Seekers," done by Penelope's father. Pilcher's characters are well-drawn, real, and engrossing people. A thoroughly charming book for most fiction collections. Troll Book Club main selection.Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
She sometimes thought that for her, Nancy Chamberlain, the most straightforward or innocent occupation was doomed to become, inevitably, fraught with tedious complication. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
She sometimes thought that for her, Nancy Chamberlain, the most straightforward or innocent occupation was doomed to become, inevitably, fraught with tedious complication. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Shell Seekers,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Shell Seekers (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book many years ago and wanted to read it again but could not find a copy at any bookstore. I went on the internet and entered the title of the book and they put me through to amazon.ca and I was delighted to find that I could order the book on line. I also was very pleased at how quickly the book was delivered to me. Since then I have ordered more books because of the service.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good mother?,
This review is from: The Shell Seekers (Audio Cassette)
I totally agree with Franny!Penelope's everlasting trouble with her children Nancy and Noel is her own fault - she hasn't got the faintest idea of parenting. For example, she hates her daughter Nancy from the day the girl is born, blames Noel for his father ("I don't", Penelope says - but she does) and has got a favourite child. "Because of Richard, Olivia was special. But she had never loved her more than Nancy and Noel" - all right, but why doesn't Penelope say this to Nancy who blames her for indulging in marked favouritism? She can't expect Nancy and Noel to understand because they don't know anything about Richard. As for Olivia, she is as unlikeable as her siblings, selfish, smug and materialistic.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my very favourite books.,
By J. T. Sousa (Toronto, Ontario) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Shell Seekers (Mass Market Paperback)
This is by far one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. I absolutely loved it. The writing is fantastic. It completely hooked me but so subtly so that after hours had passed, I looked up and thought, "There's little action. Nothing much is happening. So why can't I put this down?"It was my grandmother that set me on to Rosemunde Pilcher's writing, but my only regret was that The Shell Seekers was the first of her novels that I read. This book is undoubtedly her best, and her others, though very good, do not truly compare.
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