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| Rosamunde Pilcher obituary | Rosamunde Pilcher obituary |
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| In 1988 the 14th novel by a little-known 63-year-old British author was published in New York. The Shell Seekers, the 500-page story of a woman, Penelope Keeling, looking back on her life and loves during the second world war, took the US by storm. | In 1988 the 14th novel by a little-known 63-year-old British author was published in New York. The Shell Seekers, the 500-page story of a woman, Penelope Keeling, looking back on her life and loves during the second world war, took the US by storm. |
| The New York Times reviewer wrote: “Rosamunde Pilcher, where have you been all my life?” It sat in the bestseller list for 49 weeks in hardback and then tipped Tom Wolfe off the No 1 spot in paperback. The Shell Seekers was translated into more than 40 languages, selling around 10m copies. | The New York Times reviewer wrote: “Rosamunde Pilcher, where have you been all my life?” It sat in the bestseller list for 49 weeks in hardback and then tipped Tom Wolfe off the No 1 spot in paperback. The Shell Seekers was translated into more than 40 languages, selling around 10m copies. |
| Pilcher, who has died aged 94, wrote completely absorbing page-turners, taking what was called “romantic fiction” to an altogether higher, wittier level. Her novels and short stories have a brilliant feeling for the texture of a place and people’s relationship to it. They explore themes of family, love and loss, and of life’s upheavals, but with a grittiness and fearless observation that set a benchmark for many younger novelists. | Pilcher, who has died aged 94, wrote completely absorbing page-turners, taking what was called “romantic fiction” to an altogether higher, wittier level. Her novels and short stories have a brilliant feeling for the texture of a place and people’s relationship to it. They explore themes of family, love and loss, and of life’s upheavals, but with a grittiness and fearless observation that set a benchmark for many younger novelists. |
| They are often most un-romantic. Pilcher wrote to her German editor, Siv Bublitz: “Marriage is like a job. A long, difficult job and both partners have to work harder than ever before.” Siv said she had never in her life known such a direct person. | They are often most un-romantic. Pilcher wrote to her German editor, Siv Bublitz: “Marriage is like a job. A long, difficult job and both partners have to work harder than ever before.” Siv said she had never in her life known such a direct person. |
| A Pilcher novel is instantly recognisable. As one US critic wrote of her last novel, Winter Solstice (2000): “We are back among the reliable sights and sounds of Pilcherdom: a world of strong women, well-mannered men, bracing landscapes, big dogs, loyal cleaning ladies and houses that smell of wax polish …. Sex is strictly between the lines; shopping means getting in the groceries.” | A Pilcher novel is instantly recognisable. As one US critic wrote of her last novel, Winter Solstice (2000): “We are back among the reliable sights and sounds of Pilcherdom: a world of strong women, well-mannered men, bracing landscapes, big dogs, loyal cleaning ladies and houses that smell of wax polish …. Sex is strictly between the lines; shopping means getting in the groceries.” |
| It is also a world peopled with characters that stick with you. One reviewer wrote: “Penelope [from The Shell Seekers] could win any number of ‘unforgettable character’ competitions.” | It is also a world peopled with characters that stick with you. One reviewer wrote: “Penelope [from The Shell Seekers] could win any number of ‘unforgettable character’ competitions.” |
| “Everything I love was in that book,” Pilcher said: “Bohemian people, painters, paintings, Cornwall, the way London used to be. I was terribly bereft when I finished it. I had walked round the fields talking to all my people for so long and suddenly it was all over. I had nobody to chat to any longer.” | “Everything I love was in that book,” Pilcher said: “Bohemian people, painters, paintings, Cornwall, the way London used to be. I was terribly bereft when I finished it. I had walked round the fields talking to all my people for so long and suddenly it was all over. I had nobody to chat to any longer.” |
| Born in Lelant, between Hayle and St Ives in west Cornwall, Rosamunde was the second daughter of Helen (nee Harvey) and Charles Scott. Her father worked in Burma for the British Indian Civil Service and was abroad for most of her childhood. With her mother and sister she lived at The Elms – “a beautiful spot overlooking the estuary and the Atlantic” and now, known as The Firs, a place of pilgrimage for her many German fans. She wrote: “It was my surroundings and my solitude that fired my imagination. I’d be for ever making up stories.” | Born in Lelant, between Hayle and St Ives in west Cornwall, Rosamunde was the second daughter of Helen (nee Harvey) and Charles Scott. Her father worked in Burma for the British Indian Civil Service and was abroad for most of her childhood. With her mother and sister she lived at The Elms – “a beautiful spot overlooking the estuary and the Atlantic” and now, known as The Firs, a place of pilgrimage for her many German fans. She wrote: “It was my surroundings and my solitude that fired my imagination. I’d be for ever making up stories.” |
| She went to St Clare’s school, Polwithen, Penzance and Howell’s school, Llandaff, Cardiff. In 1939 her father returned as the second world war broke out. A shorthand and typing course led to Rosamunde working with the Foreign Office at its wartime base at Woburn Park, Bedfordshire, and then the Women’s Royal Naval Service. | She went to St Clare’s school, Polwithen, Penzance and Howell’s school, Llandaff, Cardiff. In 1939 her father returned as the second world war broke out. A shorthand and typing course led to Rosamunde working with the Foreign Office at its wartime base at Woburn Park, Bedfordshire, and then the Women’s Royal Naval Service. |
| Following two years at the Whale Island Royal Gunnery school, Portsmouth, she was sent to Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). While there, she achieved her literary breakthrough at the age of 19, when, after many rejections, she sold a short story to Woman and Home magazine for 15 guineas. | Following two years at the Whale Island Royal Gunnery school, Portsmouth, she was sent to Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). While there, she achieved her literary breakthrough at the age of 19, when, after many rejections, she sold a short story to Woman and Home magazine for 15 guineas. |
| There was then no stopping her. This was the pre-television era when there was a huge market for short stories in women’s magazines. | There was then no stopping her. This was the pre-television era when there was a huge market for short stories in women’s magazines. |
| Back in Britain in 1946 she married Graham Pilcher, a Scot with family in St Ives who had been awarded a Military Cross in the war, and moved to Dundee, where Graham worked in the family jute business. She settled down and they had two sons and two daughters. | Back in Britain in 1946 she married Graham Pilcher, a Scot with family in St Ives who had been awarded a Military Cross in the war, and moved to Dundee, where Graham worked in the family jute business. She settled down and they had two sons and two daughters. |
| But always she kept writing. She once told me that she often worked out dialogue while hanging washing on the line. The war, and the many young people she had met in her travels, provided limitless subject matter. Her writing gave her independence, both spiritually and financially. | But always she kept writing. She once told me that she often worked out dialogue while hanging washing on the line. The war, and the many young people she had met in her travels, provided limitless subject matter. Her writing gave her independence, both spiritually and financially. |
| From the start she was a pro. Her first eight novels under the pseudonym Jane Fraser each “had five cliff-hangers for a six-part magazine serial” and were published by Mills & Boon. By the time I became her literary agent in 1973, she was publishing short novels as Rosamunde Pilcher on the Collins Romance list. Her breakthrough came when a young American editor with St Martin’s Press, Tom Dunne, recognised her sparkling prose and pitch-perfect dialogue and launched her books in the US. | From the start she was a pro. Her first eight novels under the pseudonym Jane Fraser each “had five cliff-hangers for a six-part magazine serial” and were published by Mills & Boon. By the time I became her literary agent in 1973, she was publishing short novels as Rosamunde Pilcher on the Collins Romance list. Her breakthrough came when a young American editor with St Martin’s Press, Tom Dunne, recognised her sparkling prose and pitch-perfect dialogue and launched her books in the US. |
| Visiting her in Scotland, Tom suggested an altogether bolder, “door-stopper” novel that would include her wartime experiences. Together they mapped out the plot of The Shell Seekers. It took two years to write. Pilcher’s British editor, Sue Fletcher, said: “She attributed its success to her theory that it gave her readers permission sometimes to dislike their children without ever ceasing to love them.” | Visiting her in Scotland, Tom suggested an altogether bolder, “door-stopper” novel that would include her wartime experiences. Together they mapped out the plot of The Shell Seekers. It took two years to write. Pilcher’s British editor, Sue Fletcher, said: “She attributed its success to her theory that it gave her readers permission sometimes to dislike their children without ever ceasing to love them.” |
| In Germany, where her book sales have exceeded 15m, she became a cult figure. The ZDF television network bought the rights to her shorter novels and her short stories – more than 120 in all – which were filmed mainly in Cornwall and Devon. The Rosamunde Pilcher Hour was watched by more than 6 million viewers, and the term Liebe und Landschaft (love and landscape) entered the publishing vocabulary. She won many awards, including the Golden Deutschland, and in Britain the Romantic Novel of the Year award for Coming Home (1995), her longest and most autobiographical novel. In 2002 she was appointed OBE. | |
| She retired after Winter Solstice, which also enjoyed international success, saying that she wanted to stop while she was writing well. | She retired after Winter Solstice, which also enjoyed international success, saying that she wanted to stop while she was writing well. |
| Graham died in 2009. She is survived by her children, 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. | Graham died in 2009. She is survived by her children, 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. |
| • Rosamunde Pilcher, writer, born 22 September 1924; died 6 February 2019 | • Rosamunde Pilcher, writer, born 22 September 1924; died 6 February 2019 |
| • This article was amended on 20 February 2019. Cornwall was not the only location used by ZDF for filming Pilcher’s work: there were other British locations, particularly in Devon. | |
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