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Daphne du Maurier

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri June 19th, 2009, 1:51 am

I just finished Flight of the Falcons and have a review posted here. Very very different from Du Maurier's usual romantic suspense.
At home with a good book and the cat...
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Vanessa
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Post by Vanessa » Fri June 19th, 2009, 8:11 am

Thanks for that, Misfit. I have the book but just haven't read it yet! One of her lesser known ones.
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Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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love_uk
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Post by love_uk » Sat September 26th, 2009, 5:29 am

Have read all her novels over the years but it's been quite awhile for most of them. Exceptions: Rebecca (which I practically know by heart), House on the Strand (my first time slip) & the wildly romantic Frenchman's Creek - all 3 re-read many times.

Read the dark but surprisingly interesting sequel to Rebecca "Mrs. De Winter" by Susan Hill last year. Didn't expect to like it at all but became quite caught up in it. Anyone else read it? No ... it's not du Maurier by any means but its ending has stayed with me.
Joan

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

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Vanessa
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Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Sat September 26th, 2009, 9:56 am

I haven't read Mrs de Winter but it is on my TBR pile, though, so glad you enjoyed it. I have read Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman - quite a few years ago now but I remember that I enjoyed it.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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Madeleine
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Post by Madeleine » Sat September 26th, 2009, 10:36 am

I enjoyed Rebecca's Tale (didn't expect to as I'd read other books by the author and hadn't liked them), but disliked Mrs de Winter intensely - thought it was a re-hash of the original and I couldn't believe that Mrs de W would be stupid enough to take on Mrs Danvers as housekeeper after all that happened in Rebecca - she annoyed me intensely and I wanted to slap her!
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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Miss Moppet
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Post by Miss Moppet » Sat September 26th, 2009, 12:48 pm

[quote=""Madeleine""]I enjoyed Rebecca's Tale (didn't expect to as I'd read other books by the author and hadn't liked them), but disliked Mrs de Winter intensely - thought it was a re-hash of the original and I couldn't believe that Mrs de W would be stupid enough to take on Mrs Danvers as housekeeper after all that happened in Rebecca - she annoyed me intensely and I wanted to slap her![/quote]

These were exactly my feelings, Madeleine. To date Rebecca's Tale is the only sequel not written by the author which I have enjoyed. I think because Sally Beauman chose other characters to develop and didn't narrate anything from the pov of Mrs de Winter. I'm glad she didn't as the one thing I really didn't like about Rebecca's Tale was the portrayal of Mrs de Winter. The original book makes it clear that Mrs de Winter gains confidence through her experiences and is a very different person at the end of the story than at the start, but in Rebecca's Tale Sally Beauman describes her as still as insecure and gauche as she was as a 21 year old. But apart from that I did like the book.

Mrs de Winter, though, I didn't like at all. I have to give Susan Hill credit for getting her voice right - it is incredibly close to the original book - but she was flogging a dead horse. Yes, she just re-hashed the previous book and it didn't work at all IMO.

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Sheramy
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Post by Sheramy » Sat September 26th, 2009, 9:42 pm

Rebecca is one of my favorite books EVER, so I've been very reluctant to try either Mrs De Winter or Rebecca's Tale. I may give the latter a go, though. It did look intriguing when I flipped through it in the bookstore.
Sunflowers: A Novel of Vincent van Gogh, forthcoming from Avon-A, 13 October 2009
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For it is truly the discovery of a new hemisphere in a person's life when he falls seriously in love. -Vincent van Gogh

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Mon September 28th, 2009, 9:43 pm

Interesting story about Daphne here.

And just look at the cover I found on Amazon today,

Image
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Susanna Kearsley
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Post by Susanna Kearsley » Tue September 29th, 2009, 4:54 pm

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read Rebecca, nor watched the film.

But I can practically recite Jamaica Inn. I fell in love with Jem at 12 and he still rates high on my list of heroes. The kiss in the marketplace...*sigh* And the part where he breaks through the window because she's been hurt. What a guy. :)

The House on the Strand is my next favourite of hers, followed by Frenchman's Creek. I own all her others (in hardback--I'm a terrible collector) and have read most of them and enjoyed them to varying degrees.

Just not Rebecca, for some reason...

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Miss Moppet
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Post by Miss Moppet » Tue September 29th, 2009, 6:09 pm

[quote=""Susanna Kearsley""]I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read Rebecca, nor watched the film. [/quote]

Susanna you're so lucky...I can't even remember what it was like reading Rebecca for the first time, you have a great treat in store.

It's funny how some books stay on the shelf for years. Misfit, that cover is the same as my copy (originally mother's copy) of The King's General...which is one DduM I've never got around to reading.

Interesting article. I never have read the children's accounts of life at Menabilly, must get around to that too.

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