The End of Summer (by Rosamunde Pilcher)

(Amazon UK link)

I do like Rosamunde Pilcher's books! I have read them all at least twice, and re-read them every few years. They're warm, and endearing, with the most realistic and sympathetic characters I have ever come across in novels.

'The End of Summer' features Jane, who lives in a shack in California with her rather erratic father. She enjoys looking after him, and their rather bohemian life, until one day he brings a new woman home to live with him.

That is the catalyst for Jane to accept an invitation to stay with her maternal grandmother in Scotland. When she gets there, she meets again her childhood sweetheart - her cousin Sinclair. He seems as keen as ever, but her feelings are uncertain.

As with all Pilcher's novels, this is very well-written, and I was quickly caught up in Jane's life, and felt I knew most of the others as well. My only slight problem with this book is that there rather an over-dramatic and sudden ending that didn't feel entirely natural.

Not my favourite book by this author, by any means. But still, I enjoyed it.

You can also read my longer review of 'The End of Summer', written seven years later, when I enjoyed it even more.