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A review by chrissie_whitley
September by Rosamunde Pilcher
4.0
A very lovely and gently atmospheric family story set in Scotland, anchored by a party taking place in September.
Pilcher creates a wonderfully immersive setting—not just with the little village, but with the community established and structured by the people of the village and characters of the book. Their relationships and familial connections are so tightly woven and so dearly felt that they take on the very characteristics typically associated with the setting. They bind and connect and ground each other so well and with such history, everyone plays their role with a kind of significance and weighted quality.
"It occurred to her, sadly, and not for the first time, that as you grew older you became busier, and time went faster and faster, the months pushing each other rudely out of the way, and the years slipping off the calendar and into the past. Once, there had been time."
With an entire host of characters, the beginning (on audio) was a little confusing—not necessarily keeping them separated but remembering their connections and who was related and who was not. Nevertheless, briefly confusing or not, the simple premise was made entirely propulsive due to Pilcher's fantastic writing and perfect pacing.
Someone's throwing a party for their daughter in September...and she's going to invite everyone. Everyone including the woman, Pandora Blair, who up and left the village twenty years ago and hasn't been seen since. Pandora's name alone carries with it this sense of devil-may-care, caution-to-the-wind allure she left in her wake...which seemingly has only intensified with her long absence. The build-up of the party, the return of Pandora, the introduction of all the important players, and all the other day-to-day and normal life events that take place, create a living, breathing book that's full of life, love, betrayal, lies, and loss.
I can't think why I never picked up another Pilcher after finally reading [b:The Shell Seekers|37095|The Shell Seekers|Rosamunde Pilcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385213408l/37095._SY75_.jpg|517040] years ago, but I'm sorry I took so long. Something I'll have to remedy.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Jilly Bond|913929|Jilly Bond|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Bond seems to have been paired perfectly with this novel – perhaps with Pilcher on the whole. She was really brilliant with this performance. Her voices were wonderful, but it was the acting and performing on the whole that got me. If the character had her mouth full of food when responding, then I swear that's exactly how Bond sounded. If the character was hoisting herself up from sitting on the ground while speaking, then Bond added the incredibly natural (and never overplayed) sounds of exertion that would go along with that. Everything was subtle and just fantastically played; the kind of performance that immediately makes you go in search of other books narrated by this audiobook performer.
Pilcher creates a wonderfully immersive setting—not just with the little village, but with the community established and structured by the people of the village and characters of the book. Their relationships and familial connections are so tightly woven and so dearly felt that they take on the very characteristics typically associated with the setting. They bind and connect and ground each other so well and with such history, everyone plays their role with a kind of significance and weighted quality.
"It occurred to her, sadly, and not for the first time, that as you grew older you became busier, and time went faster and faster, the months pushing each other rudely out of the way, and the years slipping off the calendar and into the past. Once, there had been time."
With an entire host of characters, the beginning (on audio) was a little confusing—not necessarily keeping them separated but remembering their connections and who was related and who was not. Nevertheless, briefly confusing or not, the simple premise was made entirely propulsive due to Pilcher's fantastic writing and perfect pacing.
Someone's throwing a party for their daughter in September...and she's going to invite everyone. Everyone including the woman, Pandora Blair, who up and left the village twenty years ago and hasn't been seen since. Pandora's name alone carries with it this sense of devil-may-care, caution-to-the-wind allure she left in her wake...which seemingly has only intensified with her long absence. The build-up of the party, the return of Pandora, the introduction of all the important players, and all the other day-to-day and normal life events that take place, create a living, breathing book that's full of life, love, betrayal, lies, and loss.
I can't think why I never picked up another Pilcher after finally reading [b:The Shell Seekers|37095|The Shell Seekers|Rosamunde Pilcher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385213408l/37095._SY75_.jpg|517040] years ago, but I'm sorry I took so long. Something I'll have to remedy.
Audiobook, as narrated by [a:Jilly Bond|913929|Jilly Bond|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]: Bond seems to have been paired perfectly with this novel – perhaps with Pilcher on the whole. She was really brilliant with this performance. Her voices were wonderful, but it was the acting and performing on the whole that got me. If the character had her mouth full of food when responding, then I swear that's exactly how Bond sounded. If the character was hoisting herself up from sitting on the ground while speaking, then Bond added the incredibly natural (and never overplayed) sounds of exertion that would go along with that. Everything was subtle and just fantastically played; the kind of performance that immediately makes you go in search of other books narrated by this audiobook performer.