The family centers around Penelope, and it is her love, courage, and sense of values that determine the course of all their lives, Deftly shifting back and forth in time, each chapter centers on one of the principal players in the family's history. To read about more bloggers who are featuring My Favorite Reads, visit Alyce at At Home With Books.Set in London and Cornwall from World War II to present, The Shell Seekers tells the story of the Keeling family, and of the passions and heartbreak that have held them together for three generations. Try visiting with Violet Aird and her family, friends and neighbors. Just the right time to settle in for a good book that feels like visiting with old friends. And now is the perfect time to read this kind of story: the hectic Summer pace is over and it’s not yet time to start in with all the holiday planning. It’s definitely a book to settle in with. At 536 pages you can’t race through it anyway. September is the kind of book a person should spend time with and savor. Well, now that I’m getting close to that age, I still want to be like her. I always thought that I’d like to be like Violet Aird when I got to that age.

But Violet says that all mothers worry about their families. Her family and friends tell her not to worry. Violet likes to guide with little nudgings. She may be a quiet person but she is not silent. She knows it’s best not to force them into doing what she thinks is best for them. She is not a powerhouse matriarch but a quiet, gentle person who worries about her family. She’s coming up to her 70th birthday and she’s the matriarch of her family. Violet is still the same, steady as she goes. I first read this book back in the 1990’s and I still remember the characters, especially the main character, Violet Aird. September is a month when marriage is proposed and marriages break up, when even normally reticent Scots, Londoners, and Americans drink a little too much, dance a little too late into the night, when promises are made, hearts are broken, and long-buried family secrets can come to light.” It is a time of almost frenzied rounds of parties and house guests and reels. September is an extraordinary month in Scotland, when a brief but glorious summer is ending and the long, gray winter has yet to begin. Martin’s Press, 1990Īs the novel opens, “invitations are being written for a party in September. I saw one of My Favorite Reads at a recent Library Sale. Those are the books where I still remember the characters or the ideas promoted in the book or perhaps a certain way it made me feel. I have so many favorite books I’ve read over the years.

September by rosamunde pilcher summary