Customer Reviews

Snow in April

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a quintessential Rosamunde Pilcher novel. Her characters are almost subdued, a little more like ordinary mortals with their rather unadorned personalities, which give them (esp the major characters) something that attracts kinship with the reader. The story is about how life for anyone has an unexpected whimsy, and finding love in the unlikeliest of places and in the rather unimagined person. Rosamunde Pilcher has mastered the craft of how to make love seem always sweet and precious, in this modern day where everyone is all eager to jump under the covers. Characters in this novel are unpunctuated, yet with all their loose-ended personalities, one sees a possibility that real love is able to blossom despite all kinds of improbabilities. This is a real "must read" for those of us hopelessly in love with love!

This short and sweet novel of Pilcher is as usual, very well written. Caroline, persuaded by her brother Jody at the beginning of the book, decides to take a trip to Scotland to see their brother Angus, of whom they haven't seen for years. So when a neighbor friend agrees to let Caroline use his old car to travel, they set off for this trip.

What happens as snow falls in April over in Scotland, is the two get stuck in snow, leaving them stranded, but not for long. They are almost to their destination when they meet a kindly gentleman, Oliver Cairney, who provides shelter and food for Caroline and Jody.

Sparks fly between and Oliver and Caroline, but she is engaged to be married soon. The story has a very interesting turn out in the end.

I loved this book, as I have the other 4 Pilcher books that I have read. Pilcher takes you into her world, and you feel the vulnerability, the joy, pain, and everything in between of her characters in this book. Her descriptions of the countryside are superb.

As usual, a very good and nice book, this author always is an enjoyable read, you usually have a smile on your face at the end.

This made for a few hours easy listening but it wasn't very exciting. The story-line was pretty predictable without much in the way of surprises. Lyn Redgrave's narration was good but her male voices were rather unconvincing.

Caroline, the heroine, is about to be married to her (nice) step mother's brother. She is not madly in love with him but seems unable to summon the confidence to pull out. Her younger brother, Jodie, is due to leave London for Canada to live with his stepmother, while Caroline will remain in London. There is another, older brother, Angus, who has not been seen for several years, and Jodie is determined to find Angus and ask if he can stay with his brother rather than move to Canada.
Caroline agrees to borrow a car and drive up to Scotland, where Angus was last known to live. When the car crashes in a freak snow storm, Caroline and Jodie walk to the nearest house - the home of Oliver Cairney, where they are dried out and fed. Of course the inevitable happens, with repercussions for everyone. No-one seems to be very upset about it though and everyone lives happily ever after.

I would have liked to have had a bit more objection from the step mother and her brother, a bit more solidity to the novel, which felt rather wishy-washy. I am hoping that The Shell Seekers and September will be more satisfying reads, but sadly, I'm not in any hurry to find out.

This was a sweet little novel. I love Scottland and most of her stories are centered there. So you can visulise what you read Her discriptions help alot also. She writes very visually.
The book arrived on time and great condition. Enjoyed the whole process very much.

Like all her work, Ms. Pilcher does not disappoint with Snow in April. In these times of crisis in every discipline, especially the economy, Pilcher offers an escape of pleasurable hours of reading....always. Her son, Robin Pilcher, is equal to the task and I recommend his books as well.

This novel was a piece of piffle compared to the contemporary ones you can get now. The heroine was passive and unresponsive to pretty much anything and always offering excuses for her stupid decisions in life. She winges along in an engagement she doesn't want to be in, living in a country she doesn't want to live in, doesn't work in the career she loves, and lets everyone around her make the decisions for her. Suddenly she decides to drive a decrepit minivan to Scotland to deposit her 11-year-old brother with an unreliable and selfish older brother because the kids doesn't want to go to Canada with his step-parents. She has a car accident, is saved (conveniently) by a local landowner who is present to wrap up his deceased brother's affairs (the sorrow over his brother's death lasts all of five minutes), spends about three hours with the landowner and then collapses from appendicitis (which has been plaguing her for months & months but she's too stupid to see a doctor about), and ends up being proposed to by the landowner based on the deep and loving relationship that developed between them in the three hours they were together. Throw in a catty female who wants the landowner for herself and the stepmother who appears selfish & mean but ends up truly loving her stepchildren and you have one sad excuse for a story. This heroine is too stupid to be allowed to breed--her children will be at an evolutionary disadvantage!