Daphne du Maurier

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Wed May 12th, 2010, 2:19 am

[quote=""Amanda""]The only DduM I have read (so far) is The King's General. I really enjoyed it. Particularly how she constructed the story about around a factual discovery in an old house (which I won't spoil)......[/quote]

I loved it when the two ladies (I forget names at the moment) played cards whilst Menabilly was sacked around them....

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Wed May 12th, 2010, 3:10 am

I haven't read The Glassblowers, but I want to - so I'll be really interested to hear what you think of it when you've read it.

We've got the Hitchcock movie of Rebecca lined up at Netflix for viewing in the near future. I've probably seen it before, but if so, it was ages ago. I'm looking forward to this one!

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Wed May 12th, 2010, 9:12 am

Haven't read Glass Blowers but "Rachel" is excellent, very much a psychological thriller. I can also recommend "Jamaica Inn", "Frenchman's Creek" (although that's more of a light romantic romp), "House on the Strand" (spooky time-travel) plus, of course, the masterpiece that is "Rebecca". I have "The Kings's General" on my tbr shelf, so thanks for the recommendations, it sounds great.

CindyInOz · Post by **CindyInOz** » Tue May 18th, 2010, 12:54 am

I'm almost done with My Cousin Rachel, about 50 pages to go. I tried to stay up last night to finish it, but alas, I couldn't. Now I'm at work and have to wait until this evening to find out how it ends - why does work always have to get in the way of a good book! Anyhow, I'm certainly loving it. I bought a few more of her books yesterday so it looks like I'll be reading DuM for the next month or so.

CindyInOz · Post by **CindyInOz** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 2:24 am

I finished the Glass Blowers over the weekend. After reading My Cousin Rachel I went in with high hopes and have to say I was a little disappointed. This is certainly no reflection at all on the writing or the story itself, but is rather due to my lack of knowledge of the French Revolution and inability to speak French. Obviously, being set in France, all the place names and characters were French and my inability to pronounce most of the place names interupted the flow of the story sometimes.

I have to admit, I went into this one with a very limited understanding of French politics at that time and I do think it would have helped tremendously to have known or researched a bit more of the background beforehand. This is a book I definitely have to re-read at some point once I get up to speed on the Revolution.

In any case, I now have to decide on whether to start Rebecca or Jamaica Inn...

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 2:35 am

I would agree that a better knowledge of the period is helpful. It is very complex and I never felt I had anything resembling a decent *grasp* on the period until I read Dumas' series on the Revolution.

I need to reread Rebecca soon. I read it in my younger days (many years ago) but I've been saving that one for last. Jamaica Inn - stay away from the Ammy reviews - there's a nasty spoiler in one of them.

CindyInOz · Post by **CindyInOz** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 4:01 am

[quote=""Misfit""]I need to reread Rebecca soon. I read it in my younger days (many years ago) but I've been saving that one for last. Jamaica Inn - stay away from the Ammy reviews - there's a nasty spoiler in one of them.[/quote]

Thanks for the tip! Do people do that intentionally?? These days I tend to rely primarily on recommendations from this site anyway.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 5:33 am

[quote=""CindyInOz""]I finished the Glass Blowers over the weekend. After reading My Cousin Rachel I went in with high hopes and have to say I was a little disappointed. This is certainly no reflection at all on the writing or the story itself, but is rather due to my lack of knowledge of the French Revolution and inability to speak French. Obviously, being set in France, all the place names and characters were French and my inability to pronounce most of the place names interupted the flow of the story sometimes.

I have to admit, I went into this one with a very limited understanding of French politics at that time and I do think it would have helped tremendously to have known or researched a bit more of the background beforehand. This is a book I definitely have to re-read at some point once I get up to speed on the Revolution.

In any case, I now have to decide on whether to start Rebecca or Jamaica Inn...[/quote]
I recommend Rebecca, but then I am highly biased -- it is one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it several times and also listened to an excellent audio version -- her writing is so flawless that I never tire of it. I haven't read Jamaica Inn, yet, but I have an audio version in my TBR pile.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 7:26 am

The Glass-Blowers is a little different to DduM's usual style, too. It's more of a family saga (some of it based on her own family, I believe) as is her debut novel, The Loving Spirit.

Rebecca is my favourite, closely followed by My Cousin Rachel, The Scapegoat and House on the Strand.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 24th, 2010, 12:26 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]The Glass-Blowers is a little different to DduM's usual style, too. It's more of a family saga (some of it based on her own family, I believe) as is her debut novel, The Loving Spirit.

Rebecca is my favourite, closely followed by My Cousin Rachel, The Scapegoat and House on the Strand.[/quote]

Glass Blowers is based upon her forebears and is a historical novel, so If you're looking for a romantic suspense it would be a bit on the dry side. I thought the bits in the Vende were fascinating, I'd never heard of that before.

Thanks for the tip! Do people do that intentionally?? These days I tend to rely primarily on recommendations from this site anyway.

There are very few reviewers on Amazon these days I give much weight to, considering all the shenanigans and fake accounts to post gushing reviews. Goodreads is another excellent side to discuss books with fellow readers.