Rosamunde Pilcher had a long and distinguished career as a novelist and short story writer, but it was her phenomenally successful novel, The Shell Seekers, that captured the hearts of all who read it, and won her international recognition as one of the best-loved storytellers of our time. It was voted one of UK's top 100 novels in the BBC's Big Read in 2003. Her bestselling novels, September, Coming Home and Winter Solstice were made into television films. She was awarded an O. B. E for services to literature in 2002 and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Dundee University in 2010. Rosamunde Pilcher died on 6 February 2019.