Last weekend, with a mind weak with exhaustion after some heavy-duty studying and rather giddy at the realisation that there were no more exams left on the horizon, I settled down for some light and frivolous reading with, as is so often the case with me, a Scottish theme. While neither Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher or Apricot Sky by Ruby Ferguson are destined to become great favourites, they certainly helped me unwind after a stressful period.
Winter Solstice was only my second encounter with Pilcher. I’d read Coming Home as a pre-teen and thought it was just about the trashiest thing I’d ever read up to that point in my life. A subsequent rereading didn’t do much to change my mind. Still, enough of my blogging friends are fans of Pilcher that I wanted to give her another try and Winter Solstice had been recommended as a perfect winter read. Well, it is very wintery – the story focuses on a group of troubled people who find themselves spending Christmas together in the Scottish Highlands – but I could not stand the book. I loved the concept and the writing was bland but unobjectionable, but the characterization would have had me throwing the book across the room if I hadn’t been reading it as a library e-book – my lovely Kobo should not be punished for what I load onto it. I hung on until the end, hoping that something might happen to redeem it but that never happened. If anything, I only got more frustrated. I can see how in certain moods others could find Pilcher’s writing comforting and enjoyably but she is decidedly not for me.
Apricot Sky by Ruby Ferguson, though not particularly inspired, was much more enjoyable. Described by Scott as “the best approximation I’ve found of a D.E. Stevenson novel not written by Stevenson herself”, it is the story of Cleo MacAlvey, who returns to Scotland after three years working in America, and the rest of the MacAlvey family. It is 1948 and quiet Cleo, now thirty, has been in love with Neil Garvine for the past ten years, though the dour Neil is completely oblivious to her adoration. Their more outgoing (and altogether delightful) younger siblings – Raine MacAlvey and Ian Garvine – are about to be married and so, much to both her discomfort and her pleasure, Cleo finds herself frequently in Neil’s company, though she can’t seem to string a sensible or half-way interesting sentence together any time he is near.
Cleo is unobjectionable but I do wish she were more compelling. Her younger nieces and nephews, who get quite a lot of the author’s attention, are quite interesting but it is her sister Raine who provided the bulk of the entertainment here. She is bright and outgoing, happy to barge “through life without caring whether people liked her or not, and […]about as introverted as a fox-terrier puppy.” Her blunt exchanges with her equally affable fiancé were my favourite parts of the novel and left me caring far more for them than I did for any of the other characters.
The book is overly long, full of characters who ought to be more interesting than they are, and generally lacking a sense of humour but it is all still very pleasant. Not quite up to D.E. Stevenson level, I think, but rather more akin to the works of Susan Pleydell or Noel Streatfeild’s Susan Scarlett novels. I wouldn’t rush out to buy one of the absurdly-priced second-hand copies but if Greyladies were to reissue it, and it would be a perfect title for them, then I would be happy to have a copy of my own.
No more exams! Yay! Sounds like you had a nice relaxing weekend.
I enjoyed reading your reviews. Beautiful picture by Cook at the top of your post.
Do you know Lewis Grassic Gibbon? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Scots_Quair
Re: Pilcher – Whew. Glad it’s not just me.
Re: The Ruby Ferguson – that cover looks vaguely familiar. Wonder if I’ve read that at some point? But your description doesn’t set any bells chiming…
Enjoy your down time after all your studying and exams. Wishing you many good books to fill in some of those free moments. 🙂
I have to be a dissenting voice. I absolutely adore Pilcher and Winter Solstice and Coming Home are both comfort reads for me!
Read Pilcher years and years ago. The Shell Seekers was good. I have not read Ferguson. Glad you got to de-stress!
I’m glad to hear that your exams are over, and that you were able to relax with books – if not quite the perfect books. I had to check Google to confirm that I’ve read some of Rosamunde Pilcher’s books, The Shell-Seekers is the only one I remember from many years ago (not on my shelves today).
Rosamund Pilcher is another Maeve Binchy for me. Some ok, some truly bad stuff.
Like Lisa, I had to go look up in my book records to see if I’d read Pilcher – apparently, I read Coming Home several years ago. I have to surmise that I didn’t care too much about it since I haven’t read anything else by her since.
Apricot Sky is one that Scott recently blogged about at Furrowed Middlebrow, as one of 20 books he’d like to see reissued by Persephone or Greyladies.
http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.ca/2013/11/a-possibly-persephone-of-my-own-or-20.html
As with Marcia Willett and Joanna Trollope, Pilcher’s book are certain among a certain milieu. That said, I enjoy her writing but I can understand why perhaps she’s not everyone’s cup of Earl Grey.
Well, if you didn’t like Winter Solstice you are wise not to proceed with any of Pilcher’s other novels – it is (of her’s I’ve read) among the best.
I hope you find something more satisfying to read this week!
Reblogged this on Home Is Where The Roots Lead.
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