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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Five individuals of varying ages and walks of life find themselves sharing a long-neglected home in a small Scottish village, where they spend a Christmas that none of them will ever forget. The uniting force of these five is Elfrida, a sixty-something retired actress who recently left London for a life of quiet retirement in the English countryside. There she befriends fellow retiree Oscar Blundell, who becomes more than a friend when Oscar’s wife and teenage daughter die in a tragic accident. Oscar and Elfrida attempt to escape their grief by retiring to Oscar’s family estate house, where they will do their best to avoid Christmas altogether.
Through a series of unusual circumstances, Oscar and Elfrida are soon joined by Elfrida’s cousin Carrie, who is grieving the recent end of an affair with an Austrian man; Lucy, Carrie’s 14-year-old niece whose primary caregivers have set off for adventures of their own this holiday; and Sam, a newly-single businessman who has come to revive the mill in a nearby crumbling town. Together, these five rediscover what it means to love and hope and celebrate amidst a quintessentially Scottish winter.
This deeply backlist title (first published in 2000) that is beloved by many has been sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years, and on my radar for much longer. And I quite enjoyed it, though it’s not a favorite. The length (nearly six hundred pages) and pacing (the story doesn’t really get started until the mid-way point) were both sticking points (I tend to enjoy a meandering storyline but here it was just too much), and I struggled with the casual acceptance of infidelity and celebration of selfish life choices by characters who are meant to be sympathetic. The timeline also bothered me: the story covers a brief period, and it was too difficult to suspend my disbelief over characters leaving behind past lives and relationships so quickly. The discussion of grief felt too abbreviated and I could not get on board with the character of Oscar overcoming the deaths of his wife and (supposedly beloved) child and moving on with someone else in a matter of weeks.
Despite these drawbacks, I really did love the cozy winter setting, the time period (I’m so nostalgic for pre-phones/internet times these days), and found-family themes, and while I didn’t particularly love these characters (with the exception of Sam and teenage Lucy, even though she read too young for her age), I did find them memorable and appreciated their diversity and unique relational dynamics. The Scottish setting and British characters were a huge highlight, and I enjoyed learning a great number of British terms and customs.
I read this post-Christmas, and although the story revolves around the holiday I didn’t mind reading it after my own celebrations had concluded (though I don’t think I would have enjoyed this wintery tale in a warmer season). Perfect for those seeking a winter or holiday read with some substance.
My Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Kindle
Through a series of unusual circumstances, Oscar and Elfrida are soon joined by Elfrida’s cousin Carrie, who is grieving the recent end of an affair with an Austrian man; Lucy, Carrie’s 14-year-old niece whose primary caregivers have set off for adventures of their own this holiday; and Sam, a newly-single businessman who has come to revive the mill in a nearby crumbling town. Together, these five rediscover what it means to love and hope and celebrate amidst a quintessentially Scottish winter.
This deeply backlist title (first published in 2000) that is beloved by many has been sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years, and on my radar for much longer. And I quite enjoyed it, though it’s not a favorite. The length (nearly six hundred pages) and pacing (the story doesn’t really get started until the mid-way point) were both sticking points (I tend to enjoy a meandering storyline but here it was just too much), and I struggled with the casual acceptance of infidelity and celebration of selfish life choices by characters who are meant to be sympathetic. The timeline also bothered me: the story covers a brief period, and it was too difficult to suspend my disbelief over characters leaving behind past lives and relationships so quickly. The discussion of grief felt too abbreviated and I could not get on board with the character of Oscar overcoming the deaths of his wife and (supposedly beloved) child and moving on with someone else in a matter of weeks.
Despite these drawbacks, I really did love the cozy winter setting, the time period (I’m so nostalgic for pre-phones/internet times these days), and found-family themes, and while I didn’t particularly love these characters (with the exception of Sam and teenage Lucy, even though she read too young for her age), I did find them memorable and appreciated their diversity and unique relational dynamics. The Scottish setting and British characters were a huge highlight, and I enjoyed learning a great number of British terms and customs.
I read this post-Christmas, and although the story revolves around the holiday I didn’t mind reading it after my own celebrations had concluded (though I don’t think I would have enjoyed this wintery tale in a warmer season). Perfect for those seeking a winter or holiday read with some substance.
My Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Kindle
My mom said she tries to read this every winter, and I can see why: cozy Scottish setting and lovely characters exploring love, life, and grief. I originally gave this three stars, but I’m becoming more of a softy in my old age and can better appreciate a well-told romantic tale.
Loss and renewal, the very idea behind the celebration of the winter solstice which marks the reversal of the days shortening to the lengthening of the days — the death and rebirth of the Sun for the new seasons — a major theme behind Pilcher's novel and rather fitting with her incredibly human themes running through her books.
Once again, Pilcher lands us in an incredibly atmospheric setting — a small estate house called Corrydale in Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland — where small but separate groups of loosely connected people end up together by coincidence at Christmastime.
The cheerful, welcoming natures of a couple of the characters is nicely grounded by the reluctance-to-impose by the others — leaving a wonderful warmed-by-the-fire, internal toastiness that is somehow never cheesy or overplayed. There's always a lovely harmonious sense of balance to Pilcher's characters and settings; they are just comfortable, cozy family dramas ... with cardigans, dogs, tartans, and villages. They're so familiar and knowable — you can just feel how much Pilcher admired the land and the people of Scotland by how much life she puts into her books.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Jilly Bond|913929|Jilly Bond|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Just as I felt with [b:September|116053|September|Rosamunde Pilcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420776195l/116053._SY75_.jpg|6958004], Bond seems to have been perfectly paired with this novel – perhaps with Pilcher on the whole. Her performance matches so wonderfully with the vibrancy and atmosphere of Pilcher's novels, it's almost hard to remember her as a separate, independent entity — not completely one fused with these novels and Pilcher's voice.
"For, when he looked again, he saw that the faint shell-pink had exploded into an aureole of red and yellow, with vaporous streaks like flames. And over the shallow hills of the distant headland inched the first sliver of an orange sun. The curved rim of dazzling light touched the shifting sea, smudged shadows on the undulations of the sand, and drained darkness from the sky, so that gradually it was no longer sapphire-blue, but faded to aquamarine.
He watched, and lost all sense of time as the orange orb sailed up, out from behind the far side of the world. And it was the same fresh miracle that it had always been, and he forgot about being cold. The pinprick blink from the lighthouse, all at once, ceased. The new day had begun, and after today, the days would start to grow longer, and then it would be another year, and Sam, thinking about it, found himself unable to imagine what it might hold in store for him."
Once again, Pilcher lands us in an incredibly atmospheric setting — a small estate house called Corrydale in Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland — where small but separate groups of loosely connected people end up together by coincidence at Christmastime.
The cheerful, welcoming natures of a couple of the characters is nicely grounded by the reluctance-to-impose by the others — leaving a wonderful warmed-by-the-fire, internal toastiness that is somehow never cheesy or overplayed. There's always a lovely harmonious sense of balance to Pilcher's characters and settings; they are just comfortable, cozy family dramas ... with cardigans, dogs, tartans, and villages. They're so familiar and knowable — you can just feel how much Pilcher admired the land and the people of Scotland by how much life she puts into her books.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Jilly Bond|913929|Jilly Bond|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Just as I felt with [b:September|116053|September|Rosamunde Pilcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420776195l/116053._SY75_.jpg|6958004], Bond seems to have been perfectly paired with this novel – perhaps with Pilcher on the whole. Her performance matches so wonderfully with the vibrancy and atmosphere of Pilcher's novels, it's almost hard to remember her as a separate, independent entity — not completely one fused with these novels and Pilcher's voice.
This book has been on my to read list for a very long time. I am glad to have finally read it. It does bring to light that I was a very different person when I first wanted to read it. Although I didn't hate this book, it isn't a book I would put on my list now. It was a bit too Hallmark movie for me.
Heartwarming. I liked seeing the different story lines and characters come together.