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.
Chapters 4-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Noel”
Like Nancy, Noel, Penelope’s only son, values appearances and reputation. This is why he spends many of his weekends in the country, spending time with his girlfriend’s wealthy friends in hopes of making important connections. Noel lives in a tiny flat whose prestige is based solely on its good address. He dreams of someday starting a business in brokering commodities, but he needs a large investment to begin. When Nancy calls Noel and tells him about The Water Carriers, Noel immediately thinks of The Shell Seekers and wonders how much money can be made from the sale of that larger painting. Even splitting the money with his sisters, Noel knows that he can get more than enough money to begin his business. He feels that his mother is selfish for not selling the painting because she has already made more than enough from the sale of her home on Oakley Street to live on for the rest of her life.
Noel owns an old Jaguar that makes a knocking sound and has a heater that doesn’t always work. He allows his girlfriend, Amabel, to borrow an overcoat he took from his mother’s house that once belonged to Lawrence Stern. Amabel tells Noel that there is something stuck in the lining of the coat. Noel fishes the item out when they arrive at their destination. The paper turns out to be a letter to Lawrence Stern from Ernest Wollaston, a man who commissioned a painting called The Terrazzo Garden. The letter mentions a sketch that Lawrence made before creating the painting. This information causes Noel to wonder about the possible existence of additional sketches that depict Lawrence’s other paintings. Noel calls his friend Edwin Mundy, who is an antiques dealer, and asks if these sketches would be worth anything. Edwin says that sketches of major works might be worth as much as 5,000 pounds each.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Hank”
Olivia has dinner with an acquaintance named Hank Spotswood at her home. Over drinks, Hank suggests that Olivia take him sightseeing the next day. Olivia agrees. Hank spends the night. The following morning, Olivia gets a call from Antonia and learns that Cosmo has died. Antonia would like to come to London but does not have a place to stay. Olivia invites Antonia to stay with her. When Hank wakes up, Olivia tells him that she must break the news of Cosmo’s death to Penelope in person. Hank agrees and insists on going with her. As they drive to the country, Olivia realizes that Antonia might be happier staying with Penelope, and that such an arrangement would solve the problem of finding a live-in aide for Penelope.
Penelope reflects on her home, Podmore’s Thatch, as she works. The house is named for the village thatcher who lived more than 200 years ago. Penelope keeps a large number of things she brought from Oakley Street in a loft that has become overcrowded. She keeps promising herself that she will clear it out, but she never does. Penelope also reflects on Carn Cottage, her parents’ cottage in Cornwall that she eventually sold to pay for her children’s educations. She also recalls selling the house in Oakley Street, her childhood home, when it became too big and expensive to keep up. She wants to visit Cornwall again. As she reflects, Olivia arrives and breaks the news of Cosmo’s death. They discuss Antonia, and Penelope is excited by the idea of Antonia staying with her. The next afternoon, Penelope is working in her garden when Noel and Amabel arrive unexpectedly. Noel tells Penelope about the impending sale of The Water Carriers and shows her the letter he found in Lawrence’s old overcoat, asking if she’s ever considered selling her paintings or having them appraised. When Penelope is unreceptive to the idea, Noel asks if he can look for his squash racket in his room. When he doesn’t return in a reasonable amount of time, Penelope finds him in the loft. She asks what he’s doing there, and he claims he couldn’t find the racket in his room.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Lawrence”
This chapter is a flashback to Penelope’s earlier years. In Porthkerris, Penelope is 19 and is walking to her father’s art studio to fetch him for lunch. She’s anxious because England has just entered World War II. She arrives at the studio and reflects on how her father hasn’t worked in 10 years due to arthritis. He’s 74 now and has been married for nearly 20 years to Sophie, the French daughter of a painter and friend. Lawrence inherited a house on Oakley Street in London; he and his family live in the basement and rent out the upper floors to a professor named Peter and his wife, Elizabeth. They also own Carn Cottage in Porthkerris, Cornwall, where they spend their summers.
As part of the war effort, the Sterns take in refugees Doris Potter and her two sons, Ronald and Clark. At first, the Sterns find Doris uncouth and loud, but after Sophie pulls Doris aside and suggests that she be gentler with her children, the relationship improves. In January 1940, Sophie and Penelope travel to London to collect some of their belongings from the house on Oakley Street. While there, they meet Willi and Lalla Friedmann, refugees from Munich. Willi and Lalla tell Sophie and Penelope some of the awful things they witnessed in Germany. The stories inspire Penelope to sign up for the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the Wren.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Antonia”
Bac in the present day, Penelope wakes early in the morning with memories of Porthkerris still dancing in her mind. The new gardener is due to arrive today. She watches for the van with the Autogarden name written on the side to come, but when the gardener appears, he is on a bike. Penelope greets him and shows him where she keeps her garden tools, instructing him to trim the hawthorn hedge. Over lunch, Penelope learns that the gardener’s name is Danus Muirfield; he is from Scotland, and he doesn’t drink or drive. Penelope also learns that Danus’s father is a lawyer and that although Danus had planned to study to be a lawyer as well, he went to horticulture school instead.
Noel visits Olivia and asks if she will go to the auction of The Water Carriers. She says no, and when Noel suggests that Penelope sell Lawrence’s unfinished panels, Olivia tells him that it is none of his business. She also denies knowledge of any sketches that Lawrence may have made. Noel tells Olivia that he plans to visit their mother that weekend to help her clean out the loft because he feels it is a fire danger. Olivia asks him to take Antonia to Podmore’s Thatch. After speaking to Noel, Penelope asks Danus to come that weekend and help clear out the loft.
Nancy learns of the sale of The Water Carriers from her husband, George. George urges Nancy to encourage Penelope to have her two Lawrence Stern paintings insured. Nancy calls Penelope and becomes angry when she learns that no one thought to tell her about Antonia. Nancy brings up the paintings, but Penelope brushes her off, instead inviting her to come for lunch on Sunday. Noel and Antonia arrive on Friday night, and Penelope is thrilled to see Antonia. At dinner, Penelope asks Noel to go to Cornwall with her, but he refuses, claiming to have too many responsibilities at work. Later, Antonia tells Penelope that Cosmo was diagnosed with lung cancer and died shortly after surgery. Antonia says that her father had little left to give her when he died, and that her mother married a man with sons who threatened to assault Antonia the last time she visited, which is why she couldn’t go to her mother. Penelope promises to allow Antonia to stay as long as she wishes.
Chapters 4-7 Analysis
Chapter 4 focuses on developing the morally questionable aspects of Noel’s character. It is clear from the start that Noel shares Nancy’s concern for reputation and perception. At the same time, Noel is portrayed as being lazy and self-centered: concerned only with bettering his own situation. Although Penelope accused him of being indifferent, he clearly has opinions on the doings of everyone around him, but they are decidedly negative opinions. When Noel learns about the impending sale of The Water Carriers and immediately begins wondering how much money he and his sisters would get from the sale of their mother’s prized painting, The Shell Seekers, it is clear that he never once considers that any proceeds from such a sale would belong to his mother, not to him or his siblings. This obvious greed illuminates the theme of Greed and Anticipated Inheritance. Noel’s concern is clearly only for himself and his own status.
The tender and unexpected relationship between Olivia and Cosmo that was thoroughly explored in Chapter 3 lays the groundwork for the revelation of Cosmo's death in Chapter 5. Because the author has taken particular care to establish the kind and genuine nature of both Cosmo and Antonia, this information is already designed to elicit an emotional response from the reader. Cosmo’s death causes Olivia a moderate amount of grief, but although her response is tempered by distance and time, she clearly valued the relationship enough to feel responsibility for ensuring that Cosmo’s daughter is doing well in the world. This sense of obligation and kindness reveals the authenticity at the heart of Olivia’s personality, for she wants to do right by Antonia. However, Pilcher also reveals Olivia’s doubts about being around Antonia, for she knows that that she is not the ideal person to support the young woman in her grief. This understanding demonstrates Olivia’s self-awareness of her own emotional capabilities and limitations, and it also introduces a contrast between Penelope and Olivia’s personalities. While they share some similarities, Penelope is more empathetic than her daughter, while Olivia is less emotional, perhaps as a defense mechanism in response to her ambitious career in the corporate world.
Penelope’s reflections on the history of Podmore’s Thatch, while irrelevant to the overall plot, show how history and legacy are important to Penelope. As she reaches the twilight of her life, Penelope is interested in the effects that people have on the world during their lives. This concept is reflected in her attachment to her father’s paintings, and in her grief over the sale of the house on Oakley Street and the sale of Carn Cottage. Penelope’s attachment to these paintings is portrayed as a very private, sentimental thing that none of her children are quite capable of grasping; most of them dismiss her desire to keep the paintings as selfish or impractical. It is also interesting to note that Penelope sold her parents’ beloved cottage in Porthkerris to pay for her children’s education, but Nancy now refuses to sell her vicarage for the same purpose. This foreshadows a future moment in which Nancy accuses her mother of never giving her anything, a declaration that reveals how little Nancy appreciates the many difficult sacrifices Penelope made for her children over the years.
In a flashback to earlier times, Chapter 6 introduces Doris Potter and her two sons. At first, these characters appear to have only a minor role in the story, but Doris’s position in the household at Carn Cottage will prove to be important to Penelope as the plot continues to develop. This chapter also introduces the events leading up to World War II, a time of great change that has a profound impact on Penelope’s life. That war is just beginning at the end of the chapter when Penelope hears stories of the atrocities taking place in Germany and decides to join the Wrens. The fact that Pilcher chooses to tell the detailed story of Penelope’s early life foreshadows moments in which Penelope’s past will have an impact on her actions in the present. While Chapter 6 is devoted to introducing Penelope’s past, Chapter 7 introduces the young people whose eventual relationship will have a great impact on Penelope’s present. Danus Muirfield, Penelope’s new gardener, a polite, quietly intelligent man who does not drive or drink alcohol, begins work at the cottage, and Antonia, Cosmo’s daughter, arrives at Penelope’s home. These two young people both appear lost in a time of difficulty, foreshadowing the connection that will develop between them.
