Snow in April (by Rosamunde Pilcher)

(Amazon UK link)

I love Rosamunde Pilcher's books. All of them. I had them all in my collection about ten years ago, and first read 'Snow in April' in 2000. Then somebody - I'm not sure who - borrowed it, and I never saw it again.

So, having re-read most of the others in recent years, I put 'Snow in April' on my wishlist, and was delighted to receive it for my recent birthday.

Caroline, who is about to get married, drives to Scotland with her younger brother Jody, to try and find their estranged older brother Angus. They are stranded in a snowstorm before they reach him, and take refuge in a large house nearby.

Meanwhile, Oliver is mourning the death of his brother Charles, and wondering what to do with his large home and farm.

Naturally these characters, introduced separately, are going to meet. Equally unsurprisingly, there's some conflict as well as some mutual attraction, with the snow making things even more complicated. It's a light novel, with a fairly predictable story-line, but in Rosamunde Pilcher's hands it becomes a delight. Perhaps not one of her very best, but still a lovely story; one that I kept picking up through the day, just so that I could read a few more pages.

Reading for the second time, I had totally forgotten the plot, other than that a girl drives to Scotland and is stranded in the snow. So I enjoyed it afresh, all over again. It's light fiction, and ends perhaps a little too abruptly - but Rosamunde Pilcher always writes moving and believable books with warm people who feel alive and real. I'm sure I'll read this again; I hope it will be long before another nine years has gone by.

Recommended to anyone who enjoys light romantic fiction with very well created characters. Not always in print, but fairly widely available second-hand. Sometimes found as part of an omnibus edition with one or two of the author's other books.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 30th April 2009