The last book I read was called "The Shell Seekers" by Rosamunde Pilcher’s. I picked the book from a junk store for thirty rupees. I had read a story of Pilcher earlier and found it refreshing; hence I bought this book even when the back cover synopsis didn’t offer anything exiting. (Read happy endings, Romantic, Thrilling...). Well, the book was a beautiful surprise! I didn’t get that feeling until I was introduced to some three characters in the book. Then it became so overwhelmingly life like. There are few books that present humans as humans, they either portray a character as good, bad or grey but never show them in their skin. This book does that. All the characters are so real. The book revolves around "The Shell Seekers" ,a painting which has suddenly become very valuable and its owner - the daughter of the painter himself. It’s a common story of how the children conspire to get their mother's inheritance, but told from heart. The common perception of the children, that there parents should only take care of their wellbeing, should provide her possessions only to them is brought out with the portrayal of the Nancy and Noel. They being the eldest and youngest children of Penelope Keeling desperately want their mother’s money for various reasons. Nancy's character is particularly real, a women who was once pretty and never satisfied. Noel’s character is that of an opportunist, a kind who spend more time thinking how to use other’s resources than thinking of earning them. Penelope's second child Olivia's character is fairly normal, the independent career woman. However, she is too independent and has no two way about it. She dabbles in a relationship (with Cosmo) and at that point you wonder she will become another of those “career woman who gave all for real love” type. But she is too practical minded for that to happen. She is willing to help the daughter of a man she loved, but not at the price of her privacy and independence.Initially, I thought of Penelope's character as boring and normal and I was wrong. She has a flashback dating to World War II (And the predictable affair too...) but what makes the character admirable is her outlook. She takes practical decisions, but her thinking is advanced. Her decision to go back to her roots, her decision to help Antonia and Danus are all are all admirable and makes her strong. I was not help but feel that she was the almost ideal mother, a kind who gives only so much to her children, and lets them acquire the rest (both in character and wealth). She is unhappy the way her children turn out, but not to the extent of chiding them for it, she in a way accepts them as they are. She wants them to treat her as a person and treats them as individuals. She strongly reminded me of a person I have met in real life, an old woman who lived near my grandmother’s house.All in the entire book was a very very satisfying read; it gave me a feeling of serene feeling when I finished it. Even the predictable flashback with Richard was not bad. (Considering the tragedy that Richard dies in the war..)
