52 pages • 1 hour read
Rosamunde PilcherThe Shell Seekers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1987A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Chapter 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Penelope Keeling has recently had a heart attack. She discharges herself from the hospital because she feels that she can get more rest in her own home. Penelope knows that she should inform her children that she is home, but she cannot decide which one to contact. She knows that Nancy, her eldest, will be overly concerned and that Noel, her only son, will lack interest. Penelope decides to call her middle child, Olivia. She calls the magazine, Venus, where Olivia is an editor and demands to be put through to her office. Olivia is appropriately concerned but accepts her mother’s decision, asking only that she not strain herself by working in the garden. After hanging up the phone, Penelope reflects on her life and feels satisfied in what she has done and the fact that she is still living.
Chapter 1 Summary: “Nancy”
Nancy, Penelope’s eldest child, is a 43-year-old mother of two: Melanie and Rupert. Nancy, her husband, George, and her children live in a former vicarage that is old and large, making it difficult to maintain. Nancy laments that they do not have the money to heat the home properly even as they struggle to pay tuition for her children to attend a private school. Despite her financial issues, she refuses to close down any of the rooms or relegate the kitchen as the primary living area, as her mother had done in her childhood home on Oakley Street in London. Olivia once suggested that Nancy sell the vicarage and use the proceeds to pay for the children’s education, but Nancy sees Olivia’s opinion as a result of her inability to appreciate the importance of maintaining a respectable reputation.
Appearances have always been important to Nancy. Even as a child, she dreamed of pretty dresses and a big wedding: all things that her grandmother, Dolly Keeling, supported. Nancy feels that Dolly, who understood her better than her own mother did, made her life bearable. After Dolly’s death last year, Nancy feels as though no one understands her. Nancy’s housekeeper is disrespectful and criticizes her habit of overeating. Nancy’s husband barely acknowledges her presence, and the children have begun to follow his lead. Nancy’s only pleasures are a hot bath and a bottle of wine.
On the train to London in order to meet Olivia for lunch, Nancy sees an ad for an upcoming art auction at Boothby’s Fine Art Dealers that features a painting by her grandfather, Lawrence Stern, called The Water Carriers. Nancy has only vague memories of her grandfather because he died when she was a small child, and she wonders why anyone would be interested in buying his art nearly 40 years after his death. This makes her think of the two examples of Lawrence’s work that her mother still owns: a large painting called The Shell Seekers and a set of unfinished panels. She has never thought much of them and doubts that anyone would want them.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Olivia”
Olivia and Nancy are not close. In fact, Olivia finds Nancy to be tedious and self-centered. Likewise, Nancy feels that Olivia is too wrapped up in her own career. She also thinks that Olivia is irresponsible, especially after she went to Ibiza for a week’s vacation and ended up staying nearly a year with a man named Cosmo Hamilton. Over lunch, Nancy tells Olivia about the doctor’s suggestion that Penelope have someone live with her full-time, and Olivia instantly expresses doubts that their mother would ever accept such an arrangement. Olivia assures Nancy that their mother is taking it easy, that she plans to hire a gardener, and that Olivia will be visiting her that weekend. During the discussion about Penelope, Nancy expresses concern about who might pay for a live-in nurse. Olivia tells her that Penelope has plenty of money from selling the house on Oakley Street and that she has invested wisely.
When Nancy shows Olivia the advertisement featuring The Water Carriers, Olivia tells her that there has been a growing interest in Victorian artists and that it will likely sell for a large sum of money. This again makes Nancy think of her mother’s paintings. She asks Olivia how much they might get for The Shell Seekers. Olivia suggests that it could go for as much as half a million pounds. Nancy is shocked, but she also begins to imagine how that kind of money would change her life. Olivia returns to work, unable to think about her mother’s situation until she is on her way home. Olivia is aware of Nancy’s need for money and noticed her interest in the Stern paintings. She is not worried because she knows that her mother will never sell them, but she also knows that Nancy and Noel will pressure Penelope on the topic all the same. Olivia settles into a bath once she’s home, and her mind wanders to her time on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Cosmo”
During the summer of 1979, Olivia vacationed in Ibiza with a group of friends. While at a party on a boat, she met Cosmo Hamilton, an older man who had lived in Ibiza for 25 years. The following day, Cosmo showed up at Olivia’s hotel and talked her into spending the day with him on his boat. They had a wonderful time, so Olivia agreed to go out with him the following day. Cosmo took Olivia to his home and suggested that she move in with him. At first, Olivia dismissed the idea but then decided that she would like very much to live with him in Ibiza. Olivia settled her affairs at her high-pressure job in London and became instantly ill as her body adjusted to the leisurely life on Ibiza. She and Cosmo lived a simple life for some months, until the time arrived for Cosmo’s daughter, Antonia, to come visit. Cosmo arranged for Penelope to come as well to support Olivia. Penelope and Antonia flew out together and became fast friends. Upon Penelope and Antonia’s arrival, Cosmo decided to throw a party. While preparing for it, Olivia learned that her mother’s aunt Ethel died and left Penelope a set of highly valuable gold-and-pearl earrings. Penelope joked that the earrings spent their lives in a bank vault and would go back into one when she returned home.
Penelope spent a month with Olivia and Cosmo. After she returned home, she sent a note expressing her joy at the time they spent together. At the same time, Olivia and Antonia developed a caring relationship, but Antonia eventually needed to return to London for school. Time passed. After Christmas and into the New Year, Olivia learned by accident that Cosmo did not own the picturesque home he lived in. She is surprised to learn that he lived in the home for 25 years as a renter. She expressed concern that they were not as familiar with each other as she thought they were. Olivia further explained to Cosmo that as an independent woman, she had no intention of ever marrying or having children. She told him that she would go back to London in a month or two and resume her career at Venus. Cosmo was saddened by her decision because he loved her and wanted her to stay.
Prologue-Chapter 3 Analysis
Penelope, the protagonist of the novel, is introduced in the Prologue as a physically fragile woman who has just been released from the hospital. This idea of Penelope’s fragility is perpetuated by Nancy’s deep concern that her mother should not live alone after her minor heart attack. However, as the novel progresses and more is revealed about Nancy, the authenticity of her concern comes into question, as she seems to focus more on the financial cost of caring for her mother than on the emotional reasons to ensure that her mother remains well. Olivia also questions the assumption of her mother’s fragility when she insists that Penelope is fine on her own and suggests that Nancy’s concern for Penelope is overblown.
Penelope’s thoughts on her children in the Prologue also provide a quick glimpse into the quirks of the various personalities that will be more deeply explored as the novel progresses. The character of her three children becomes very clear as Penelope considers their potential reactions to news of her medical issues. Penelope thinks Nancy will be “panic-stricken” (3) at the idea that Penelope signed out against medical advice and knows that the idea of expecting wisdom from her son Noel is “ludicrous” (3). These descriptors bring to mind an older daughter who is quick to concern and a son who isn’t all that interested in the lives of his mother and siblings. It is significant that after due consideration, she finally decides to confide in Olivia; the decision also implies that of all her children, Olivia will demonstrate the most reasonable behavior and will respect her mother’s decision, and this straightforward dynamic soon becomes clear in their phone conversation. When compared with the greedy and grasping behavior that Nancy later exhibits by asking about the potential market value of Lawrence’s paintings, these first interactions between Penelope’s children identify which characters are most focused on monetary gain and which prefer to prioritize the quality of their relationships over material gain.
As the novel continues, it becomes clear that Olivia is the child to whom Penelope relates most strongly. Olivia is an independent woman who is career-driven. She is unmarried but highly successful in her work. The setting of the novel is 1984, a time during which the yuppie movement was fairly dominant. Yuppies were young urban professionals who prioritized their ambitions and career objectives over the social expectation to marry and have children. Young women were often the forefront of this movement, pulling away from the values of their mothers’ generation, in which women were expected to be subservient to their husbands and raise their children while running a perfect household. Olivia is a prime example of this newfound independence, for she is highly successful in her job, has never married, and remains childless. Olivia is also a responsible adult with few financial concerns: elements that place her directly at odds with her older sister, Nancy.
While Nancy and Olivia are vastly different on the surface, Pilcher establishes that the sisters do share some basic similarities, for both women end their day by bathing alone with a glass of wine. Thus, although they live their lives very differently, they both seek comfort in the same way. They both have struggles, and they both harbor regrets. Unfortunately, they are also incapable of sympathizing with one another’s life struggles.
Olivia’s love life is suggested to be temporary at best, for she has a pattern of moves from man to man without commitment. This dynamic is similar to depictions of men in many 1980s romances, movies, and television shows. Olivia has made the conscious choice not to commit herself to a man, yet she still looks back fondly on a yearlong relationship she had with Cosmo Hamilton. This relationship is outside of Olivia’s usual pattern, and the narration implies that this particular relationship had the potential to lead to commitment despite her resistance to such a thing. Nancy reflects on this relationship as being Olivia’s one flaw: evidence of a momentary lack of responsibility. By contrast, Olivia reflects on this time in her life with a sense of nostalgia and of loss. While Olivia enjoys her independence, she clearly cared for Cosmo and still thinks of him with great affection. This moment of remembrance thus foreshadows a moment when Cosmo will return to her life in a shocking way. Olivia’s past experience with Cosmo is an example of her ability to give in to spontaneity and her capacity for love despite her desire to remain independent of commitment.
This section also introduces a vitally important narrative thread that will be further developed: the accomplishments of Lawrence Stern, an artist whose work is experiencing a resurgence of interest in the art world. Lawrence is Penelope’s father, and as such, Penelope owns several of his works. These works will become a significant source of conflict between Penelope and two of her children, Nancy and Noel. The paintings themselves will also come to symbolize different things for different characters as the story develops. For Penelope, these paintings are symbolic of her carefree childhood and her relationship with her father and her mother. These paintings represent Lawrence Stern’s talent, but also his generosity and his passion. For Nancy and Noel, however, the paintings symbolize a source of easy money: a way to get out of debt and make their own lives better, with no thought for the personal and historical legacy that the works represent.
