The Shell Seekers
- Author Rosamunde Pilcher
- Narrator various
- Publisher BBC Audio
- Publish Date 4 July 2024
- Run Time 2 hours and 24 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Adventure fiction, Family life fiction, Generational sagas, Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Second World War fiction.
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Listen to a sample
What to expect
Rosamunde Pilcher's beloved saga of one family's passions and heartbreaks – plus an interview with the author
‘A deeply satisfying story written with love and confidence’ Maeve Binchy
Recovering from a heart attack, Penelope Keeling discharges herself from hospital and returns to her cosy Cotswolds cottage. Fiercely self-sufficient, she values her independence above everything – but fears that others wish to take it from her…
Penelope has one treasured possession – ‘The Shell Seekers’, painted by her artist father Lawrence Stern. A comforting reminder of a precious bygone time, it sparks memories of her bohemian Cornish childhood and her wartime romance with the love of her life. But when her self-centred adult children, Noel and Nancy, find out that Stern’s work is now worth a fortune, they urge Penelope to sell up and give the money to them. Only her daughter Olivia – who has also known love and loss – respects her mother’s freedom to make her own decisions. As Penelope searches her heart, and recalls the passions, tragedies and secrets of her past, she knows what she must do… but will it rip her family apart?
One of the best-selling and most famous sagas of the last four decades, The Shell Seekers is an enduring classic which has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Set in Gloucestershire, London, Cornwall and Ibiza, and shifting between 1939 and 1985, this poignant drama explores themes of memory, fate, trauma and connection.
Also featured is a fascinating episode of Bookshelf, in which Nigel Forde talks to Rosamunde Pilcher about her life and novels.
Production credits
Written by Rosamunde Pilcher
Dramatised by Lin Coghlan
Directed by Tracey Neale
Cast
The Narrator, Rosamunde Pilcher – Jessica Turner
Penelope – Emma Fielding
Olivia – Emily Berrington
Nancy – Jasmine Hyde
Young Penelope – Kitty O'Sullivan
Richard – Carl Prekopp
Noel/Ambrose – Will Kirk
Cosmo/Mr Brookner/Soldier – John Lightbody
Antonia – Imogen Front
Danus – Ian Dunnett Jnr
Lawrence – Michael Bertenshaw
Doris – Debra Baker
Miss Pawson – Anna Spearpoint
Mrs Enderby – Juliana Lisk
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14-21 April 2024
The Shell Seekers copyright © 1987 Rosamunde Pilcher
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Critics Review
A deeply satisfying story written with love and confidence
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