A Place Like Home

5 stars

Excellent short stories. They seem ageless. I remember reading stories like this in my mother's womans weekly. There was usually a series finishing, a series starting and then a couple of short stories. If I concentrate on the clothing descriptions I might be able to date them but the themes are timeless. The heroine's are so human. Such pathos in a woman giving up the love of her life because of her feelings of possessiveness, not may authors showwarts and all. Spoiler there is a HEA. Delightful stories, I heartily recommend this volume. Many thanks for the opportunity of reading it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this delightful collection and chose a story a day. It was like picking out scrumptious chocolates from a luxury assortment. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers, Hodder & Stoughton.
Reading this anthology of short stories was like being wrapped in a cashmere shawl and travelling back to the recent past where people drank sherry before dinner and seemed to have more time. The settings are slightly vintage, with country houses where “the great beeches [which sic] made a pleasant soughing sound in the wind from the sea…” in large homes where there is no central heating: “It was a very cold house and chill seeped up from the flags, and a thin draught drifted down the staircase.” So evocative. And fires with “logs smouldering in a bed of ash in the great hearth, the books and magazines scattered about, a bag of untidy knitting.” I stepped into these locations effortlessly through the author’s clever writing.
Invariably, the sea side setting appears. Of all the wonderful stories, Skelmerton is my favourite – it has a ghostly quality to it, opening with the most beautiful description of a “sea mist which had come in from the east like a cloud of grey smoke, sliding along the sand as though it were being blown beneath a door…”
The characters drive each story. They are love stories – of love in its infinite variety– often about young girls finding themselves – of heroes who are ordinary but special. As Pilcher writes:: “Loving a person… is not finding perfection, but forgiving faults.” One of the male characters says: “It’s your family makes a home.” Rosamund Pilcher seems to love people and she is mistress of portraying ordinary, slightly flawed characters with whom we can identify. Vulnerable, fragile characters who have to find their way.
I love the dated feel of the worlds she portrays – very nostalgic, taking me back to my childhood, but the messages behind the stories are applicable to any era. The older women have hair that is “grey, discreetly blued, never a curl out of place” (like my own mother during the 50s and 60s). Young men appear at perfect moments “behind the wheel of a dashing red car.” The descriptions of the characters are so spot on – you can picture them standing before you: “She stood there, stringy and tanned like a length of old rope, her white hair on end, her tweeds lanky, her lavishly darned stockings wrinkled and sagging…” We just don’t mend our tights anymore and I loved these snatched glimpses into the past.
The black and white etchings of each heroine are charming and I would have them on my walls.
I am going to buy myself a paperback copy of this ebook and keep it on my shelf to pull down when I need a special moment to myself. Highly recommended reading that will lift you during this difficult period we are experiencing. Treat yourself. to this five-star read. Go on! Find a saggy, chintz armchair, a log fire and a glass of sherry and indulge…

With thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
Having read all of rosamunde pilcher books starting in the 80's I just love them all this book for short stories was utterly brilliant a total breath of fresh air in these days of ups and down I can't praise this book enough.

I love Rosamunde Pilcher. These gorgeous short stories are wonderful. Each ends with you imagining what happens next.
I really didn't want any of them to end.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC

I have loved previous books by Rosamunde Pilcher (my favourite remains "The Shell Seekers"), and chose this as I was hoping for a warm, cosy and nostalgic read to start the year off nicely.

I was not disappointed. This collection of short stories took me back to my teenage years, reading short stories in my Mum's magazines, and hoping that life would turn out as optimistically for me. That's not to say the stories are dated - the themes, feelings and behaviour of the characters are actually timeless, so much so that I'm not sure exactly when most of the stories are set.

Very much enjoyed this book, each story is beautifully written, with different settings and interesting characters. Highly recommended as an antidote to the times we currently find ourselves in.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Rosamunde Pilcher is such a great story-teller, this book is no exception. Instead of a novel, this book contains several short stories - all about finding love. All short stories were somehow connected to finding a home or finding your way back to your home, which made them exceptionally heartwarming. Women of varied ages, of varied backgrounds, different sceneries, sometimes about very different problems - but what was unmistakenly always there is Rosamunde Pilcher's love for people shining through her beautiful prose. I found myself rooting for all her heroines, even if it was hard in a couple of cases. I guess she just wanted to remind us, readers, that finding love can be messy, sometimes impossible. But what are we without even trying...!

Simple love stories, one might say. I think they are rather inspiring.

A fabulous selection of short stories from Rosamund Pilcher. Having been a keen reader back in the 80's and 90's of Rosamund's books, this was a real treat.
I had forgotten that her style of writing was so warm, eloquent and familiar. Although some of the details are a little dated (old landline phones, no mobiles) the tales are still brilliant. I felt sucked into every story, wishing for more.
The introduction is very helpful for the background as to the collection.
A fantastic treat, thank you 😊 for the readers that loved The Shell Seekers, and for new readers, give it a try, you'll love it!

A beautiful collection of short stories. I've adored Rosamunde Pilcher since I was a teen having first discovered her via The Shell Seekers and Coming Home. This collection is great to put down and pick up, a few minutes of solace with a cup of tea where you can forget what's going on in the world.

This lovely collection of 15 short stories is a great reminder of how good this author was. If it it the first book that you are reading of hers think about finding other treasures that she has written over the years, I am sure you won't be disappointed . An easy read and each on is short enough to settle you down for the night . A god book and a cuppa or glass of wine and you are ready to go. 5 stars and I recommend this.
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Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this eARC

It is refreshing to read some 'new' stories by Rosamunde. This is a lovely anthology of uplifting reads. An author, sadly missed.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I think this is the firstI Rosamunde Pilcher book I’ve read, but I won’t be the last.

I loved the short stories with each one ended with me thinking what happens next.

Recommend it.

I’m not really a fan of short stories but when they are written by Rosamunde Pilcher I am confident of the enjoyment they will give.
Having read most of her novels I’m sure Ms Pilcher could have used most of these short stories as a synopsis and written a full novel around each of them.
Heart warming writing at its absolute best.