It’s St. Andrew’s Day – Scotland’s patron saint, but we don’t really do anything to celebrate it, no flag or kilt waving. But I thought it would be nice to read and ‘flag up’ a Scottish book for the occasion. Here it is!
September was first published in 1990 and is a sort of loose sequel to The Shell Seekers in that Noel Keeling appears in it as a minor character and there are references to the wider Keeling family in it.
Although I really enjoyed The Shell Seekers I have to say that I loved September, it’s a real comfort read and I can see myself going back to this one from time to time over the years.
It’s set mainly in Scotland in a fictitious place called Relkirkshire which is described as being north of Fife, which is where I happen to be sitting at the moment, so I imagined the setting as being Perthshire, the descriptions certainly sound like that lovely county which is a wee bit north of here.
The book begins in May and finishes in September and in the middle of it Rosamunde Pilcher takes us off on a summer holiday to Spain to get a wee bit of summer sunshine and escape from the rain in Scotland, just as lots of people do in real life. She did the same thing in The Shell Seekers only in that one she took us off to Portugal.
It’s a family saga involving lots of the families within the Balmerino estate and the wider neighbourhood from the laird and his wife to the Indian family running the local shop and there’s even an evil mad-woman whom Pilcher has given the surname of Carstairs, which happens to be the name of the State mental hospital in Scotland.
I’m not going to say any more about the story because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone as I definitely recommend it as a book to immerse yourself in when you are in need of a bit of rest and recuperation. It’s one of those books that you really don’t want to come to an end.
I didn’t see much Scottishness in The Shell Seekers but with September Rosamunde Pilcher definitely proves herself to be a Scottish writer. She even understands the standing which the Episcopal Church has within Scotland and its relationship with the Church of Scotland, and I can assure you that there are plenty of Scots who are completely clueless about that.
Reading September here in Washington DC area, where I moved from Wisconsin, USA. Loving the book, actually really love all her books. I have a great great grandmother who was born in Elllon in Aberdeenshire. Visited Scotland in 2015, travelled around by train, and enjoyed every minute. Also a Dorothy Dunnett fan. Appreciated your posts/thoughts.
Paulette,
I still have a few of Pilcher’s books to read, I must get around to them soon. I’ll be reading Pawn in Frankincense soon I hope. Wow – travelling around Scotland by train must end up being quite expensive, but at least you can admire the scenery if you aren’t driving. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
Katrina
I’m not sure why you mentioned Portugal in reference to The Shell Seekers. Cosmo’s home was on Ibiza.
Mark,
Ooops, thanks for that correction, I obviously mis-remembered that book, probably because I was going to Portugal around then.
I love Rosamunde, Pilcher’s books. I wrote her a letter about September 2006. The publisher passed my letter on to her. It told her how much I loved Shell Seekers. She answered me back and I still have the letter. I believe she is the best writer ever of fiction stories.. I’m so sorry to fine she has passed away. There’s no one like her.
Barbara,
How lovely that she took the time to reply to your letter. She was hugely popular abroad too, especially in Germany, so I imagine she might have had a few letters to reply to. I also love Mary Stewart’s books and I always meant to write to her but never did, I left it too long. I’ve always regretted that.
Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment.
Katrina