Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
Rosamunde Pilcher immerses her readers in the lives of five incredibly diverse characters in Winter Solstice. Elfrida Phipps, formerly of the London stage, relocated to the English village of Dibton in an effort to start again. She gradually adapted to the cosy familiarity of village life—shopkeepers knew her preferences, and neighbours addressed her by name—but she still feels alone. To marry Gloria, Oscar Blundell gave up his career as a musician. Francesca, their lovely daughter, is the sole reason Oscar considers his sacrificed career to have been worthwhile.
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
Amazon.com
After a disastrous encounter with a married man, Carrie returns from Australia to discover her mother and aunt living together and fighting often. Ahead of Christmas, Carrie consents to watch over her aunt’s awkward and reserved teenage daughter, Lucy, so that her mother can have a romantic getaway to America. After his wife left him for another man, Sam Howard is attempting to put his life back together. He has no roots or home; all he has is his job. He travels to northern Scotland on business, where he falls in love with the lush, rocky environment and begins looking for a home.
These five characters will meet at a vast, run-down estate house close to the Scottish fishing village of Creagan as a result of the unusual ripple effects of a tragedy. On the shortest day of the year, five people’s lives will converge in one home and change drastically. Readers old and new will rejoice at Rosamunde Pilcher’s eagerly anticipated comeback. A story of love, loyalty, and rebirth, Winter Solstice.
Five people find themselves staying together for the Christmas season in a Scottish estate house close to Creagan as a result of a tragedy. Their lives will be permanently altered. This novel is about love, regaining your bearings after a tragedy, serendipitous meetings, and the unexpected roads we take in life. The characters have depth and are expertly drawn. The five major characters’ alternating points of view are used to tell the story of the novel.
Elfrida Phipps, a retired actress, leaves London and her acting career in the past and relocates to a home in Dibton, a little but charming village in Hampshire. There, she lives alone with her brand-new dog, Horace. Oscar Blundell, an ex-teacher and organist in his sixties, his younger wife Gloria, who has two adult kids from her first marriage, and their twelve-year-old daughter Francesca quickly become friends with her. The unbreakable Gloria is, on the whole, a very capable woman, but she does have a tendency to drink too much. When she and Francesca are tragically killed while being driven home from a party one rainy night, Oscar must deal with his grief as well as the uneasy suspicion that Gloria may have been drinking before she took the wheel.
In addition, the large house known as The Grange, where the Blundells have previously resided, is encumbered on Gloria’s two sons from her previous marriage, both of whom are eager to claim their inheritance as soon as possible. As a result, Oscar must vacate The Grange and find a new place to live before he can even begin to grieve properly.
Fortunately, he has a half share in a sizable property called Estate House in the Highlands of Scotland. He, therefore, travels there with Elfrida, who is eager to support Oscar as he adjusts to a completely new way of life and feels very grateful to Oscar and Gloria for having taken her under their wing when she first arrived at Dibton. Elfrida, while being a very outgoing animal, understands Oscar’s thoughts as Christmas approaches and makes arrangements to spend this year’s holiday in a very peaceful way. Oscar believes he cannot bear to celebrate Christmas in the traditional way.
Elfrida worries that Oscar is not prepared to host guests when she receives a call from her cousin’s daughter, Carrie, who has nowhere to stay after unexpectedly arriving from Austria. Carrie asks Elfrida whether she and her niece could travel to Scotland for the Christmas break. Elfrida is shocked by Oscar, and soon Carrie and her niece Lucy arrive and settle in Estate House, making it appear as if a traditional Christmas might actually be feasible. And then Sam, a businessman who has come to Scotland to resuscitate an old woollen mill, shows up at their door and is invited to spend the holiday with them because of an especially big snowfall that makes driving impossible.
