Book info

• Title Voices in the Summer
• Author Rosamunde Pilcher
• Year 1984
• Genre Romance

Laura, newly married and ever conscious she may be living in the shadow of her husband Alec's first wife, decides to take a holiday with his family in Cornwall. Through the long hot summer days, she is slowly charmed by the beautiful old house and the people she learns to know and love. In time, her uneasy spirit is soothed by the sparkling, brilliant sea, and her restless heart is finally calmed. But is this new-found tranquillity too good to be true? With the arrival of an anonymous letter that accuses her of having an affair, Laura's world is thrown into turmoil...

Thoughts

I can’t imagine a situation where I would want to go on an extended trip to visit someone else’s family by myself, even if it is the in-laws. Laura travels to Cornwall to stay with her husband’s family, and she makes fast friends with everyone - until a letter arrives that accuses her of having an affair.

One of the problems I had with this book is that a lot of the characters are just too good to be true. All very polite, all opening doors for each other, pulling out chairs. Perhaps it’s just indicative of a different time, or a different generation, but I found it quite hard to swallow. It was written in 1984, so perhaps I am not being generous enough with it.

Laura is portrayed as shy and timid, but she’s not so shy that she minds travelling halfway across the country to stay with people she doesn’t know. She makes friends far too quickly for a shy person. Her hosts must be sent from heaven, and they are never happier than when they’re getting tea or inviting people to stay over.

It’s very surreal, but in a soap-opera way. Once I came to terms with that, it got a bit better. The descriptions are excellent. Setting the scene is one of Pilcher’s strong point, perhaps overdone in some places. It flows well and the story won’t be rushed - until the end when it does start to speed up a little faster than is comfortable. Overall though, it’s quite a tranquil read and doesn’t take too much thought.

Rating: 3 / 5