Britain has lost one of our most loved and charming storytellers, Rosamunde Pilcher seamlessly weaved nostalgia, family drama, humour and landscape into her novels and short stories. Her writing career spanned over sixty years and in 2002 Pilcher was awarded an OBE for services to literature. Long ago this reporter asked her where to begin to write fiction and Pilcher replied, “Just sit down and type anything onto a blank page, never stare at the page wondering where to begin”. Pilcher began writing in 1946 and her last book was published in 2004.
Although she had been writing quietly and successfully, Pilcher shot to international fame with her epic novel The Shell Seekers in 1988, a memoire associated with a painting and a mother’s relationship with her children from the post-war period to the present day. This piece of writing pierced struck a chord with every age group on every continent; it was on the New York Times bestseller list for 48 weeks in hardback and 56 weeks in paperback; and it was translated into 40 languages. The Shell Seekers sold over five million copies and is officially one of Britain’s favourite 100 books, it has been adapted for both television and stage.
Pilcher was born in Cornwall in the south of England, that salty panorama was indelibly etched into her psyche. She communicated in prose the unforgettable Cornish landscape of farmland close to the rugged cliffs, wild seas and sandy coves which set the scene for so many of her writings.
During her book tours in US and Germany Pilcher was always astonished how she was feted. Both nations fell in love with her perspective and her writing, her characters were familiar, her observations of life’s twists and turns meticulous and her plots were imaginatively plausible. The German national TV station ZDF made 200 films from her stories; her editor and friend Claus Beling at ZDF once said they had a permanent crew living in Cornwall filming Pilcher stories. The Cornish Tourist Board set up a Rosamunde Pilcher Trail and about 350,000 Germans tourist come to south Cornwall every year to enjoy the grand scenery and traditions.
Rosamunde Pilcher had charisma and wisdom, a sparkly eye, a classy sense of humour, she was both elegant and practical and when necessary ready with sane advice; she said writing was something she could pick up and put down according to the needs of her family who always came first in her life; a great-grandmother she loved and visited her family who are spread out all over the world and they adored her right back.