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mslagle's review against another edition
5.0
Such a cozy cozy cozy amazing read i loved this maybe even more than the shell seekers
julesanne's review against another edition
3.0
I lovely book to read over a winter weekend. Written in 2000.
mj_j's review against another edition
3.0
I quite enjoyed this but it gets docked a point for being unnecessarily long-winded.
susannavs's review
A good holiday read, although I wasn't on holiday (and if I had been it wouldn't have taken me so long to read this!). Enjoyed most of the characters, althought I couldn't quite believe that both mother and grandmother could be so selfish. And I'm very glad Pilcher didn't start a teenage romance!
mandyjoy's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. The varied characters are all separately dealing with a range of problems. When circumstances bring them together right before Christmas, they all help each other to feel a sense of belonging and family, even in spite of their differences. It's a book I would love to come back to each year at Christmas time. The setting is charming and makes you want to be there.
linneakarchibald's review against another edition
5.0
5 STARS
This had been on my TBR for a while because I loved THE SHELL SEEKERS so much. I loved this book even more than that one. One of my favorite tropes is when an author brings together a group of people with little in common and then shows how they can become like family to one another. This book is exactly that.
Following the lives of five protagonists, loosely connected by distant family ties, Rosamunde Pilcher tells a story of how we survive the worst tragedies and learn to thrive again. Elfrida (an aging former actress), Oscar (a church organist in the midst of tragedy), Carrie (a lost woman reeling from heartbreak), Lucy (Carrie's neglected young niece), and Sam (a businessman seeking a new life) find themselves unexpectedly thrown together under the roof of an estate house in a Scottish fishing town during the holidays.
This is a character-driven book that will make you care deeply about this little crew of people. I'm not ashamed to say I cried at the end. Highly recommend.
This had been on my TBR for a while because I loved THE SHELL SEEKERS so much. I loved this book even more than that one. One of my favorite tropes is when an author brings together a group of people with little in common and then shows how they can become like family to one another. This book is exactly that.
Following the lives of five protagonists, loosely connected by distant family ties, Rosamunde Pilcher tells a story of how we survive the worst tragedies and learn to thrive again. Elfrida (an aging former actress), Oscar (a church organist in the midst of tragedy), Carrie (a lost woman reeling from heartbreak), Lucy (Carrie's neglected young niece), and Sam (a businessman seeking a new life) find themselves unexpectedly thrown together under the roof of an estate house in a Scottish fishing town during the holidays.
This is a character-driven book that will make you care deeply about this little crew of people. I'm not ashamed to say I cried at the end. Highly recommend.
lesliejerkins's review
5.0
Reading this book was like a Christmas present to myself. The atmosphere, setting, characters, I loved it all, especially during the Yuletide season, by my cozy (“cosy”) fire with a pot of tea. Sad it’s over!
*edit 2020: having finished this for my third annual Christmas reading, this book holds up for me. Revisiting these characters feels a bit like spending time with family at the holidays, I love them all (especially Elfrida and Oscar). Now, the internet has told me there’s a “Winter solstice” tour offered in Creagan, Scotland, so this is now on my life’s dream list. Happy Christmas, all!
*edit 2020: having finished this for my third annual Christmas reading, this book holds up for me. Revisiting these characters feels a bit like spending time with family at the holidays, I love them all (especially Elfrida and Oscar). Now, the internet has told me there’s a “Winter solstice” tour offered in Creagan, Scotland, so this is now on my life’s dream list. Happy Christmas, all!
wordsmithreads's review against another edition
5.0
I read this during the week of the solstice and Christmas this year, and curiously enough, the dates matched up! Christmas was on a Monday in the book, as well as out here in 2023. So that was fun.
This is incredibly atmospheric and such a warm hug to read during the holidays... It's like a Hallmark movie without the saccharine / roll your eyes components. Yes, everything seems to work out, and yes, that thing from 200 pages ago comes back around and makes everything Just So, but isn't that nice? Isn't it nice, sometimes, to think that life just works? Especially around the holiday season. People are generous and open in this book in the way we all wish we could be open, and that others could be open with us.
What a lovely character study -- Sam, Carrie, Elfrida, Oscar, Lucy... I loved them all like they were my family, too.
This is incredibly atmospheric and such a warm hug to read during the holidays... It's like a Hallmark movie without the saccharine / roll your eyes components. Yes, everything seems to work out, and yes, that thing from 200 pages ago comes back around and makes everything Just So, but isn't that nice? Isn't it nice, sometimes, to think that life just works? Especially around the holiday season. People are generous and open in this book in the way we all wish we could be open, and that others could be open with us.
What a lovely character study -- Sam, Carrie, Elfrida, Oscar, Lucy... I loved them all like they were my family, too.
l1nds's review against another edition
5.0
I already loved the book, but listening to Jilly Bond's excellent narration has somehow made me love it even more! A perfect wintery, festive tale. Poignant, hopeful, and full of quiet joy.