Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
BOOK OF THE WEEK by Linda Jennings – THE SHELL SEEKERS (adults), ROSAMUNDE PILCHER, 9780340752463 (HODDER)
BD4.800 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
A golden oldie is my choice for this week’s column in honour of bestselling romantic novelist Rosamunde Pilcher, who died recently at the age of 94.
The writer, who had sold 60 million books around the world, passed away at her home in Scotland following a stroke. Pilcher had a huge and loyal fan club and in Germany, foe example, she was such a star that they arranged Rosamunde Pilcher Holiday Tours to Cornwall, where much of her work was set, including of course, The Shell Seekers and the tale of Penelope Keeling.
On the heels of a hasty wartime marriage, Penelope 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 finds another, 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, the author 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 began her career in the 1940s, writing romance novels for Mills & Boon under the pen name Jane Fraser. A Secret to Tell, the first novel under her real name, was published in 1955. Her profile rocketed thanks to 1987 bestselling family saga The Shell Seekers, which sold more than 10 million copies around the world and was later adapted for TV. Other hits included Coming Home and September. Winter Solstice, her final book, was published when she was 80 and also topped the bestseller lists.
BOOK OF THE WEEK (children)
GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU (POP UP EDITION), SAM MCBRATNEY
9781406327977 (WALKER BOOKS)
BD7.300 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
Too adorable for eyes, the pop-up 3-D version of the picture book classic, Guess How Much I Love You, is just as charming as the best-selling original with the added delight of pop-ups – and who doesn’t love a pop-up? It is my favourite edition of this charming ‘I love you more than you love me’ tale.
Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare play a game, trying to express just how much they love each other and sometimes when you love someone very, very much you want to find a way of describing how great your feelings are.
But as each tries to outdo the other, they discover that love is not an easy thing to measure!
This edition is beautifully-designed and would make a stunning and very special gift for anyone you love.
MY FAVOURITE
READ OF THE WEEK
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (PLATED), JANE AUSTIN/MARTHA STEWART
9780451479914 (PENGUIN)
BD9.500 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
Have your book and eat it, too, with this clever collection of classics featuring delicious recipes from celebrity chefs.
In this edition of Jane Austen’s Regency classic Pride and Prejudice, plan a fancy tea party or book club gathering with recipes for sweet confections and pastries. From beautiful petit fours and delicate sugar and spice cake, to Linzer tarts and French macaroons – bring your friends and family together with a good meal and a good book!
Pride and Prejudice – When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind.
When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever.
In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows us the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.
