Winter Solstice [Audio CD]

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184456097X
• ISBN-13: 978-1844560974
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (182 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovingly Etched: A Magical Tale of Ordinary People, September 1, 2000

By 

Mamalinde "mamalinde" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Solstice (Hardcover)

Once again Ms. Pilcher weaves a magical tale of ordinary folks. Good humored and caring, she introduces us to five people from very different walks of life, creating a family-type unit to nurture and love each other. Oscar, Elfrida, Lucy, Sam & Carrie are handling issues of loss, tradegy, family breakdown, divorce, re-marriage, aging, financial woes and abandonment when they find themselves sharing The Estate House in a small village in Scotland at the holiday season. Pilcher's characters exhibit the richness and depth and character we've come to expect. The settings are lovingly set out, from the cozy village of Diblo to the wind blown Cornwall coast, to the lochs and mountains of Scotland. An adventure to crawl into, to dwell, to breathe, to cry and to hope. You will want to just reach into the book and hug these characters, they are so dear and so believable.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read (no surprise!), August 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Winter Solstice (Hardcover)

At last, another book from this wonderful author. Elfrida joins the other strong, yet vulnerable characters that Ms. Pilcher created in her other books. As entrancing as the story line is her description of surroundings (even the weather). You really see the settings, you taste the food and feel the textures on each page. Her well fleshed characters are people you wished you knew, they have plausible histories and they develop quite satisfactorily in very interesting directions. It is lovely to read a book where characters are not limited in exploring their interests, drives and emotions by their ages. Although the plot's conflicts are resolved with no major surprises, the reader closes the book with regrets and the wish that the story could continue and the characters could move in next door.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift for her readers, September 8, 2000

By 

Carolyn "Author of Every Little Step She Take... (Sherrill's Ford, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winter Solstice (Hardcover)

Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. A brief time, when darkness predominates. Yet in this brief time, Rosamund Pilcher has set a story filled with light and warmth.

The book is classic Pilcher, full of detail and texture, housed in quirky old buildings and peopled with obliging neighbors, wet dogs, unexpected guests and a cast of characters we can grow to love.

This is not a book to be rushed through. Don't read it in bits and pieces, wedged into stolen moments during lunch breaks or while waiting for your 11-year-old to finish soccer practice. Savor it. Sit in a comfy chair with a good reading light, have a nice restoring cup of tea and some biscuits at hand. (Okay, so here in the States we don't really have those kinds of biscuits - a good butter cookie will do.) Pace be damned. In fact, that's the whole thrust of the book - that these people are thrown together in a place and time that's out of their everyday world. They're forced to slow down, to wait, to exist in the here and now. And, by consequence, the few days they spend together make all the difference in their lives.

There is more than a story here. It's not just a collection of lovely descriptions, unique characters, and a touch of romance. There are so many things to enjoy - Elfrida, the aging actress who's not too old to fall in love, the unspoiled 14-year-old Lucy, gentle Oscar with whom you just begin to get a bit irritated until he finally takes action. That's the thing - there's a philosophy here, about living. About what makes every life and each day worthwhile. They will come on you unexpectedly, those moments in the book, and they are what makes this book, and others by Ms. Pilcher, the books you remember, and reread, and leave you wishing you could know what these characters, these people, will be doing the rest of their lives.

Winter Solstice, no matter what time of year you read it, is a true Christmas gift from Ms. Pilcher, to all her fans. And it is a treasure.