Book 9: The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher

 I just finished The Shell Seekers and I give it ★★★★ 1/2 stars. First reaction: why did it take me so long to read this book? It's totally up my alley--family story (check), set in England (check), back and forth in time (check), interesting, well drawn characters (check). You probably know the story--She Shell Seekers was painted by Penelope's father, who was an artist of a school that is now (in the mid-1980s) very much in vogue. One daughter wants her to sell the painting, another wants to find the sketches made for the painting and sell that, and another daughter just wants her mom to be happy. But--there's so much more than that, in terms of living during WW2, what it means to be a family, and all of that. I docked half a star because I wanted more of Olivia and I was confused as to the whole Olivia-and-Hank storyline and why it just fizzled out. But all in all, a wonderful read.