The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
This book did my head in, in a good way. The ending was astounding. And I loved how you have to wonder about certain characters/things that happened after the fact. Really well done by du Maurier. The only reason why I gave this 4 stars though is that parts of this book are so freaking slow. It feels at times things are moving underwater and then they pick up again. I get du Maurier is setting the stage so to speak though with John of […]
Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier
I don’t know how OG this novel is, but it’s a sexy pirate adventure romp from the 1940s by our beloved Daphne du Maurier. You’ll be surprised to find that this book takes in Cornwall….and well, we find Lady Dona, part of the court in London getting so bored that she once dressed like a man to tool around the city and commit crimes. So she returns to her country estate to find a curious state of affairs. Her house is filthy and the new […]
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
“I wanted to go back again, to recapture the moment that had gone, and then it came to me that if we did it would not be the same, even the sun would be changed in the sky, casting another shadow…” The narrator crosses paths with Maxim DeWinter while in Monte Carlo serving as a companion to the abhorrent Mrs. Van Hopper. When Mrs. Van Hopper falls ill, our young female finds herself spending more and more time with the mysterious Maxim. At first all […]
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca has been on my literary radar for 20 years and on my to read list for 6. It has felt like a big, important work that I needed to read, if only to more easily understand some of the references that are out and about: Mrs. Danvers, the opening line of “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again”, and so on. Rebecca joined the list of books I categorized as White Whales (Daughter of Fortune, The House of the Spirits, The Lottery, […]
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
For a book that bills itself on the cover as “The Classic Tale of Romantic Suspense” this isn’t very romantic or suspenseful. This is the third book of Du Maurier’s I’ve read, and the second one to be a massive disappointment for such a big fan of Rebecca. Jamaica Inn follows Mary Yellan as she moves to the north of England after the death of her mother to live with an aunt she hasn’t seen in years. The vibrant, loving woman Mary remembers from her […]
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. It’s suspenseful and exciting and is also the reason I will likely never agree to be anyone’s second spouse. It’s been years since I read Rebecca on the recommendation of a trusted friend, but shamefully I’d never gotten around to reading du Maurier’s other work. I decided to rectify that recently, and the superb reviews of The House on the Strand convinced me it was the right place to turn. Sadly, while […]
