Rosamunde Pilcher

Emma Litton has two men in her life: her father, a remote artist whom she only sees every two years and Christo, her stepbrother, whom she hardly knows. Now she has to find out the truth about herself.

The big bedroom was lovely: all pale blue and white, satin and muslin, cool and airy, the windows looking out over the garden to the creek. But to fourteen-year-old Emily, beautiful though it was, it was all wrong. Her stepmother's bedroom now: everything changed since her own mother had died.

And stretched out on the bed: Stephanie, very white and pained. The new baby on its way, a month early. All of a sudden, with her father away on business, Emily had to take charge, keep calm, ring for the doctor and the ambulance. The time for looking back had gone.

The Blue Bedroom is just one of Rosamunde Pilcher's remarkable collection of stories. Stories that will enchant everyone who has read and loved The Shell Seekers.

Prue is intelligent, artistic, independent - and bored. Pressurised by her mother to make a conventional and dull marriage, she is delighted to escape London to be with her eccentric and bohemian aunt in Cornwall.

A chance encounter with attractive young artist, Daniel, on the seashore leads to an idyllic summer's day exploring the Cornish countryside and coast. But there is something troubling Daniel, and Prue - now deeply entangled - feels compelled to discover what it is...

Born in Colombo, Judith Dunbar spends her teenage years at boarding school while her beloved mother and younger sister live abroad with her father. When her new friend, Loveday Carey-Lewis, invites Judith home for the weekend to Nancherrow, the Carey-Lewises' beautiful estate on the Cornish coast, it is love at first sight.

She falls in love, too, with the generous Carey-Lewises themselves. With their generosity and kindness, Judith grows from naive girl to confident young woman, basking in the warm affection of a surrogate family whose flame burns brightly. But it is a flame soon to be extinguished in the gathering storm of war. And Judith herself has far to travel before at last... coming home.

At her dying mother's bedside, Rebecca Bayliss is shattered to learn of a family she never knew existed. Determined to find them, Rebecca journeys to Boscarva, a beautiful mansion in Cornwall, to meet a family torn by passion and greed. From her grandfather Grenville Bayliss, who is hiding an explosive secret, to a handsome cousin whose kisses are dangerously seductive, to sensual craftsman Joss Gardner, whose past hints of intrigue, Rebecca becomes entangled in a family mystery. Unravelling it holds the key to her future and her heart.

Young widow Virginia Keile is also in danger of losing her children to her mother-in-law. She decides to rent a cottage in Cornwall where she was once very happy and regain control of her children and her own life.

In California Jane Marsh dreams of her childhood home in Scotland. When she has an urgent visit from her grandmother's solicitor she decides to return, but what will she find there?

Enter Rosamunde Pilcher's world of simple joys, of crisp country air and crackling log fires, the pleasures of family reunions and rediscovered friendships.

Through thick mist and a cold east wind, Lavinia returns to Scotland. Up at the big house, Mrs Farquhar is dying. Seeing Lachlan again, Lavinia remembers her childhood holidays there: swimming in the loch, the picnics, bottle-feeding the lambs down at the farm and the evenings when they danced reels. Most of all, she remembers Mrs Farquhar's grandson Rory.

In the house, as the old lady lies serene and beautiful in the bed she has slept in since coming home to Lachlan as a bride, Lavinia meets Rory once again.

'Flowers in the Rain' is one of 16 stories, each giving another magical glimpse into Rosamunde Pilcher's world. The world in which most would prefer to live all the time.

A spellbinding collection of 15 stories from multi-million copy internationally best-selling author Rosamunde Pilcher, published posthumously two years after her death.

In 'The Holiday', a wife surprises her husband of 25 years with a holiday full of Mediterranean sunshine, red rocks and blue seas in an effort to rekindle the romance they had before children.

'The Eye of Love' takes the listener to the bright spring sunshine and sparkling waves of a Northumbrian village where old flames meet again.

In 'A Place Like Home', a lonely young woman goes to recuperate in a Scottish countryside after a brief illness. The fruit orchards and fresh sea air offer much needed respite, but not so much as the handsome, mysterious farmer.

Each of the 15 stories is a perfect slice of romance written with warmth and passion, featuring some wonderfully memorable, smart and feisty female characters that will transport listeners to another time and place.

As spring comes to Scotland and the hills burst into life, a dance is planned for September. The invitations summon home the group of people Violet Aird has cared for most in her long life. All will converge on Scotland this summer, bringing their stories with them.

Artist's daughter Penelope Keeling has had a full and varied life: a Bohemian childhood in London and Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she truly loved. When she discovers that her most treasured possession, her father's painting, The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune, Penelope must make decisions that may split apart her family.

Selina Bruce's father is dead, but when she sees a photograph that leads her to believe that he is alive, she flies off to Spain to find him. Once there she discovers the truth about herself and her fiance.

Caroline Cliburn was to be married next Tuesday, and yet she suspected that gratitude was the wrong reason to become a bride. Perhaps that was why she and her younger brother Jody had taken the long drive north to Scotland in search of her missing brother Angus...

When a sudden spring blizzard leaves them stranded by the roadside, it is the snow that gives both her and a lonely young Scot one last chance to find the healing warmth of love.

Flora and Rose are identical twins who do not know of each other's existence. Rose has been raised by her frivolous mother with the glossy international jet set. Flora has spent her childhood in the beauty and quiet of her father's Cornish cottage. And then, by chance, they meet.

The encounter seems heaven-sent to Rose, who longs to escape from a man she no longer desires. Flora can free her, and, in taking her sister's place, her uneventful life is changed forever. She finds drama and danger - and glimpses a happiness beyond her wildest dreams.

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 finally calmed. But is this newfound tranquillity too good to be true? For with the arrival of an anonymous letter, one accusing her of having an affair, Laura's world is thrown into turmoil.

Victoria Bradshaw fell in love with London playwright Oliver Dobbs when she was just 18. But he left her and disappeared from her life. Now, years later, he is a widower standing on her doorstep with his two-year-old son in his arms. And Victoria is foolish enough to want to take him back. Their early spring journey to a castle in Scotland becomes an odyssey of emotional discovery...

Can they rekindle their love in the tranquil beauty of the countryside, or will Oliver's career dictate another course?

After leaving London, Elfrida soon feels at home and content in a small Hampshire village. She has a tiny cottage, her faithful dog Horace and the friendship of the neighbouring Blundells - particularly Oscar - to ensure that her days include companionship as well as independence. But when unexpected tragedy upsets her tranquillity, Elfrida takes refuge in a rambling house in Scotland.