Book excerpt: From the elegance of the grand salons of Prideaux Place, Padstow’s most stately of homes, to the wild and remote Cornish coastline, Rosamunde Pilcher captured in her novels Cornwall’s unique, diverse beauty and compelling charm. Rosamunde Pilcher grew up near St Ives, publishing her first novel at the age of 25. Cornwall remained her long-standing inspiration with most of her novels set in this wonderfully diverse landscape. Her most famous novel, ‘The Shell Seekers’, catapulted Rosamunde to international fame and created a dedicated fan-base. This new Pitkin guidebook takes the reader on a tour of the key areas and places that inspired Pilcher’s creative writing. Clamber down the steep Bedruthan Steps and enjoy the traditional Cornish welcome in the beautiful harbour town of St Ives. St Michael’s Mount, one of the most famous sights in Cornwall, sits majestically off shore while the sound of the waves battering the coastline is a key element in enjoying a visit to Land’s End. These sites and many more informed Rosamunde Pilcher’s writing, making her novels and short stories some of the most popular and cherished around the world, several of which have been adapted for television.