Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

 

Title:  Frenchman’s Creek

Author:  Daphne Du Maurier

Narrated by:  John Castle

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 47 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible.com

What is your favorite pirate novel/movie/TV show?

Lady Dona de Columb leaves London with her children for her remote estate in Cornwall.  The excesses of the restoration court have worn on her.  While there, she discovers that her butler has been working with a mysterious pirate who has been using her estate as a place to hide.  Dona soon finds herself in love with pirate Jean Benoit Aubery and loving the adventures they have together.  Will she sail off into the sunset with him or stay with her family?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read this as part of the Classics Buddy Read with @dees.reads in November.

·       My former high school English teacher, Mrs. Smith, recommended this book to me in high school as I enjoyed Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.  While this is a very different type of book than Rebecca, I loved it.  This is my first time rereading it since high school.

·       I also enjoyed the 1944 feature film and 1998 TV movie.  I am going to watch them again now that my Christmas movie viewing is winding down.

·       This historical fiction novel is set during the reign of Charles II.

·       The novel was published in 1941. 

·       This novel is more of a historical romance with adventure and is a different genre than Du Maurier’s most famous novel, Rebecca.

·       William the devoted butler was my favorite character.  I loved the banter between him and Dona.

·       Dona’s husband, Harry, shows up with his friend Rockingham.  Harry is not the smartest and is easily fooled by Dona.  Rockingham on the other hand, knows that something is up.  He is a scary individual – it seemed like part of Dona’ s flight was to get away from Rockingham and his pursuit of her.

·       Dona has a free spirit and loves adventure.  There are some tense moments in the story, but she makes it through.

·       I think every busy mother of young children would like to run off with a handsome, well-educated pirate, but also knows that you are a mother and have to settle down. Dona ultimately understands this.  This book seemed to really make one ponder what it is to have dreams and be free, and what ultimately must be sacrificed to be a mother.

·       I liked the somewhat open ending and hope that Dona finds her pirate in the future after her kids are grown.

·       The writing in this novel is beautiful and it has a lovely opening.  It worked very well as an audiobook.

Favorite Quotes: 

“And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper of the dreams that she had dreamt there, in midsummer, under the hot sun and the white sky.”

“All this, is only momentary, is only a fragment in time that will never come again, for yesterday already belongs to the past and is ours no longer, and tomorrow is an unknown thing that may be hostile. This is our day, our moment, the sun belongs to us, and the wind, and the sea, and the men forward there singing on the deck. This day is forever a day to be held and cherished, because in it we shall have lived and loved, and nothing else matters but that in this world of our own making to which we have escaped.”

Overall, Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne Du Maurier is a beautifully written historical romance novel.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

 

Title:  Rebecca

Author:  Daphne Du Maurier

Narrated by:  Anna Massey

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Length: Approximately 14 hours and 30 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

What is your favorite book to movie adaptation?  The 1940 film Rebecca directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the book Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is one of my very favorite adaptations.  I was first introduced to it by my friend Stephanie when I was fourteen and have loved it since then. My high school English teacher, Mrs. Smith, furthered my love for all things Daphne Du Maurier.

In the novel Rebecca, a young woman falls in love with an older man in Monte Carlo.  They marry and return to his estate, Manderley, in Cornwall.  There she feels she is always in the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca.  Will she be able to move forward out of her shadow and become her own person?

My thoughts on rereading this classic novel again:

·       I love this book every time I reread it.  It is a beautifully written romantic suspense novel.  The language is just beautiful to read, and the plot is perfectly put together.  The first and last lines of this novel are famous for a good reason.

·       I did not like how harsh Maxim talked to the narrator at times.  I could really see their age difference in this reread.  I wanted someone to treat the narrator with the kindness and love that she craved.

·       The narrator starts the novel so awkward, and I felt embarrassed for her often.  I liked her character development and how she becomes a stronger person by the end.

·       When I first read this as a teenager, I got all the way to the end before I realized that I never knew the narrator’s name.  This was a brilliant way to write the novel as narrated by a woman who feels she is not good enough.

·       The mystery is wonderfully put together and the reveal at the end is perfect.

·       This is a book I will reread my entire life and still find it to be engaging.

·       Manderley is a character itself, beautiful, yet creepy.

·       Is there any other book where a dead person looms so large in a story in which she never actually appears?

·       I always felt like this story was a modern update of the Jane Eyre story. Does anyone else feel the same way?

·       I loved the small details about even the minor characters such as the detestable Mrs. Van Hopper when she puts her cigarettes out in her cold cream.  This for some reason really bothered me about this character.

·       Mrs. Danvers is one of the great villains of literature.  I would love to read a book on the back story of Mrs. Danvers.

·       This was the first time I read this book on audiobook.  Anna Massey was a great narrator, and it was a very engaging audiobook experience.

I read this book in January for my Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  Unfortunately, we had to reschedule the meeting to this month due to too many people being unable to attend the meeting.  We’ll be discussing the book next Monday night and watching the movie at our meeting in March.

Favorite Quotes:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” – First Line

“And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.” – Last Line

The Game She Plays by Siena Sterling (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of The Game She Plays by Siena Sterling.

Do you have a group of high school or college friends that you still get together with?  It definitely gets harder as the years go by!

In The Game She Plays by Siena Sterling, American Nicola has just had a whirlwind romance with Englishman James.  They are both invited for a weekend of shooting at the fabulous estate of James friends from Cambridge.  Nicola is starting to get to know everyone and finally feel welcomed when the mysterious Juliet arrives from Hong Kong.  Juliet was James college girlfriend.  She is beautiful, witty, and the life of the party.  She acts like she cares about everyone and just wants to help them out. Nicola struggles to feel a part of the crowd with Juliet around.  She starts to suspect that Juliet may not be all that she seems to be.  Is Nicola imagining things or is there a devious plot at play?

I enjoyed this character drive novel, and it was the perfect read for a weekend away.  I would call this a slow-burn suspense novel. It hooked me right away and I kept making theories about what I thought would happen. There was a lot of action at the end of the book. I thought I had this figured out, but I was a bit surprised by the ending overall and it definitely made me want to read a second book. 

I kept feeling Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier type vibes as I read this novel.  I was excited when Rebecca was referenced with Juliet as the Rebecca type person.  I loved it!

I thought it was interesting that this book was set in 1980.  I liked that is was in the not so distant past and I liked the look at the English upper crust of that era.  It was hard to fit in when you didn’t know the rules.  I liked how while Nicola was from America, another girlfriend of a friend, Bella, was from the north and also didn’t understand the unwritten rules.

This book was published on June 6, 2023.

Pegasus Bridge by Stephen E. Ambrose

Title: Pegasus Bridge
Author: Stephen E. Ambrose

Read by: Arthur Morey

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 5 hours and 58 minutes
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio Digital Review Copy – Thank-you!

Pegasus Bridge is a riveting non-fiction narrative detailing the storming and taking of Pegasus Bridge, the first engagement of D-Day, June 6, 1944.  Major John Howard and his men spent much time preparing for this day, but nothing can prepare them for the brutality of war.

Pegasus Bridge describes the months of preparation the British airborne troops went through and then gives minute by minute detail of D-Day.  The book then tells when happens to the D company in the months after D day and then the anniversaries of D-day.  Pegasus Bridge also tells the story of the Germans who were stationed at the Bridge and the French who lived in the nearby town.

I have enjoyed Stephen Ambrose’s histories in the past, especially Band of Brothers and Undaunted Courage.  I appreciated that Ambrose wrote this novel after personally meeting Major John Howard and hearing the events.  He thought it was a gripping account that would make a good book.  Originally published in the 1980s, this book has been updated since.  I especially enjoyed that Major John Howard continued to talk to those involved in the battle on both sides through the years and was able to pass on updates to the author himself.

I was intrigued by the use of the gliders transporting the troops.  My Great-Grandpa Stone was in the Army training Glider pilots in the United States during WWII.  He also worked on glider design for missions into the Asian battles. I also loved when Lord Lovat and his commandos came to the bridge blasting on their bagpipes.  If you are an Outlander fan like me, I got a secret kick out of this.

Two scenes really stood out to me in the book.  The first was during the battle, when a well-liked officer with a pregnant wife receives a mortal wound on the bridge.  When he’s found, the soldier has a surreal moment of is this really worth it?  The months of preparation only to die right before the birth of your child?  The other poignant scene was when they encounter the French shaving and humiliating women who had been with the German soldiers during occupation.  They think, everyone did why they had to do to survive, why were these women being punished for using what they had to survive?  And also, there were no young men around except the Germans for years.  Those are very good points and very humane.

As a Daphne du Maurier fan, I loved that she was brought up.  Her husband, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick “Boy” Browning was the father of the British airborne troops and she chose the red berets that they wore.  I had never heard this before and thought it was pretty neat.

I have never seen the classic movie, The Longest Day, but after hearing that the events of Pegasus Bridge are depicted in it, I know I have to check it out!  Especially cool is that a soldier who was part of the company storming the bridge that day later was played Major John Howard in the movie.

As an audiobook, I’ll admit that I had a hard time first getting into this book.  It took me awhile to get used to narrator Arthur Morey, who sounded rather dry to me.  It’s also because the start of the novel details the preparation for the assault, which was not the most exciting of details either, but was necessary to understand the later action. As the battle commenced, I found myself spell bound and unable to stop listening.

Overall, Pegasus Bridge was a great audiobook detailing the assault that helped to start and lead to victory on D-Day as well as a good look at the horrors of war.  

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

A young woman alone after the death of her mother, Mary Yellan, has traveled to the mysterious and lonely Jamaica Inn on the cost of Cornwall to stay with her Aunt and Uncle in 1820. As her mother said, “A girl can’t live alone, Mary, without she goes queer in the head, or comes to evil.”  Mary finds herself in a precarious situation.  Her Uncle Joss Merlyn is a hard brute of a man who mistreats her mother’s sister, Aunt Patience.  Although she is abused, Aunt Patience loves Uncle Joss and won’t leave him.  Mary has spunk, but she decides to stay at Jamaica Inn to determine the mystery of the place and to help her Aunt Patience.  Why don’t the carriages stop at the Inn anymore?  Why do strange men come every once in a while and move items into a locked storage room and then move them away? 

As Mary works to solve the mystery, she also roams the surrounding moors and gets to know the area.  While wondering, she meets the younger brother of Uncle Joss, Jem, who also happens to be a horse thief.  “He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.  He stood for everything she feared and hated and despised; but she knew she could love him.”  She also meets Frances Davey, the vicar of the nearby Alternun, a man she can turn to about her worries about her Uncle.

It has been a good twenty or more years since I read this novel.  I remembered the general premise, but a lot of it was like new to me.  I like how we are able to solve the mystery with Mary and learn what horrors are occurring at Jamaica Inn.  I really liked her courage and her nerve in trying to do what was right.  I also loved her romance with Jem.  He is no angel, but there is more depth to him than Mary originally assumes.  I also loved the setting – 19^th century Cornwall.

I love Du Maurier’s writing style and many of her books are my favorite novels such as Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Frenchman’s Creek.  Some of my favorite quotes from Jamaica Inn were as follows:

As Mary leaves her home:  “Already, though barely forty miles by road from what had been her home for three-and-twenty years, the hope within her heart had tired, and the rather gallant courage which was so large a part of her, and had stood her in such stead during the long agony of her mother’s illness and death, was no shaken by this first fall of rain and the nagging wind.”

Mary witnesses mass brutality and is in a state of shock.  “The wheels of the cart crunched the uneven lane, and, turning right, came out upon a smoother surface of gravel that was a road, running northwards between low hedges.  From far away, across many fields and scattered plough lands, came the merry peal of bells, odd and discordant, in the morning air.  She remembered suddenly that it was Christmas Day.”

I love Jem’s description of life in a village.  “I’ve never had neighbors, so I cannot contradict you, but I’ve had the feeling always it would be like living in a box, to live in a village.  You poke your nose over your gate into another man’s garden, and if his potatoes are larger than your own there’s a talking upon it, and argument; and you know if you cook a rabbit for your supper he’ll have the sniff of it in his kitchen  Damn it, Mary, that’s no life for anyone.”

Jamaica Inn was Daphne Du Maurier’s second novel.  She was inspired to write it after visiting the real Jamaica Inn that still is a pub in the middle of the Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.  Jamaica Inn was also made into a 1939 movie by Alfred Hitchcock starring Maureen O’Hara and Charles Laughton.  I just watched this movie again when I reread the book.  I was surprised on how the movie is basically nothing like the book.  Even more surprising, the movie shows you in the first scene what Mary spends the entire novel trying to discover.  It was entertaining, but far, far from being a faithful adaptation.  I also discovered that there is a much clearer and better copy that I have watched in the past.  I will need to find this when I watch it again in the future.

Overall, Jamaica Inn is a riveting suspenseful historical fiction novel with great characters, plot, and setting.  I highly recommend it!  I read this as part of The Classics Club and The Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow. Thanks!

Once Again a Bride by Jane Ashford

I was pleasantly surprised on how much I loved this regency romance novel by Jane Ashford. With shades of My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier as part of the plot, I was quickly caught up with the compelling characters and raced through this novel. It was another perfect romance for the month of February.


Charlotte Wylde married a much older gentleman, Henry Wylde, at eighteen. While he was a friend of her father, he proved to be a terrible husband that was more interested in using Charlotte’s inheritance to purchase antiques than in Charlotte herself. Needless to say, Charlotte is not as unhappy as she should be at her husband’s demise.

Charlotte and her trusty maid Lucy are shocked to discover that Charlotte has been left with no money. The servants soon leave and Henry’s nephew Alec meets Charlotte for the first time. Henry was eccentric and never bothered to tell any of his family that he had married. Alec is determined to help Charlotte and to discover the mystery of who killed his Uncle. As the two are thrown together, they discover there is a spark between them. A spark that is threatened by the fact that Charlotte is the prime suspect in her husband’s murder.

I also loved the side love story that was happening below stairs between Charlotte’s maid, Lucy, and Alec’s footman, Ethan. Ethan is instantly smitten with Lucy, but Lucy is afraid to throw herself away on a philanderer. Their love grows and it is very sweet.

Overall, I loved this romance. Wonderful characters and a great mystery for a plot drove this novel to a satisfying conclusion. I definitely need to read more Jane Ashford!

Source: A review copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Eva Ward’s famous actress sister, Katrina, has just died tragically young. Returning to a place they both loved as children, Eva brings Katrina’s ashes to Trelowarth House in the small town of Polgelly in Cornwall, Great Britain. Katrina’s former teenage boyfriend and their family friend, Mark Hallett now owns the family estate and is trying to keep it and its beautiful rose garden solvent.


Eva fights off her depression over Katrina’s death by trying to help Mark and his sister Susan advertise Trelowarth and start a new tea shop that will cater to tourists. An old childhood friend named Oliver has popped back in the scene and is a very attractive man. One day Eva “slips” into another time. She is still at Trelowarth, but it is Trelowarth of the early eighteenth century. At that point, two brothers, Jack and Daniel Butler together with their Irish comrade Fergal live at Trelowarth. They are smugglers and about to get involved in an ill-fated upraising to restore James Stuart to the thrown of England. Eva is unable to control when she slips back and forth between the two time periods, but finds herself falling more and more in love with Daniel Butler. Will Eva be able to find happiness between the two worlds? And will the Butler brothers escape their fate?

I enjoyed this novel. I am a big fan of time travel novels. It always fascinates me on the method of time travel. In this novel, Eva fades away or slips through time only while at Trelowarth at unexpected times. I liked all of the secondary characters too and the setting was described beautifully and vividly. The love story between Eva and Daniel was also very romantic as was the story of love between Mark’s father George, and stepmother Claire.

I liked the ending. There were a couple of surprises that I didn’t catch on to as I read the book that really made it the kind of book I couldn’t put down at the end. I really wanted to see where it was going!

Susanna Kearsley has been compared to Diana Gabaldon, Daphne Du Maurier, and Mary Stewart. These are three of my favorite authors so this naturally intrigued me. With the Cornwall setting I felt shades of Du Maurier and the time slip and subsequent love affair reminded me of Gabaldon. I will be blunt though that while I really enjoyed this book, I didn’t think it was as good as a Gabaldon or Du Maurier novel. It was missing the detail and spark that puts both of those authors on a higher level than most. With that being said, I still thought this novel was wonderful and the next best thing to a new Gabaldon or Du Maurier novel. I will definitely be reading Kearsley’s other novel, The Winter Garden.

I long to visit Cornwall someday. After reading the magnificent novels of Daphne Du Maurier and now Susanna Kearsley, it sounds like a beautiful and unique place. I also want to taste a real Cornish pasty. I lived for six years in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan while obtaining my bachelors and masters degrees at Michigan Technological University. While there I learned the fascinating history of copper mining in the area. Expert miners came from the tin mines of Cornwall. The Cornish left their mark on the area, with the greatest mark of all being the pasty which is now a regional treat. It is basically a meat and potato pie that the men would heat up by holding their shovels over a candle for lunch while in the mines. I cook mine in the oven, but it is a favorite meal in the Gerold household.

Overall, The Rose Garden was a wonderfully imaginative tale with true love, time travel, and a fascinating setting.

Book Source: Review copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!

One Season of Sunshine by Julia London

One Season of Sunshine by Julia London is the October pick for the FLICKS Book and Movie club of which I am a member. I think this novel will give us a lot to discuss with its subject matter and it nicely includes a reader’s guide at the end to facilitate discussion.

Jane Aaron is a thirty year old school teacher with a handsome, singer boyfriend that adores her, and a happy family that loves her. Jane feels like a black sheep in her family as she is adopted and doesn’t share the love of cooking that runs through the rest of her family. Indeed they even own their own family restaurant in Houston. When her boyfriend asks her to marry him, Jane feels that she needs to solve the mystery of her past before she can pursue her future. To this end, Jane moves to Cedar Springs, the town where she was born, to investigate her past.

Asher Price lost his wife in a tragic car accident two years ago. His two children, thirteen year old Riley and 5-year old Levi have a difficult life with no mother and an absent father. Asher is trying to hold everything together at his advertising firm and finds himself on the road constantly. He hires Jane as a nanny for his children for the summer.

Jane searches to discover the mother she never knew while also learning the secrets of the beautiful Susanna Price and the tragedy that the Price family had to endure. She also finds herself falling in love with her employer, Asher, as well as with his children.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I love how Jane grew to understand through her connection with the Price children that her parents could love her even though she was adopted. I liked the mystery of finding out more about Jane’s birth parents as well as about Susanna. I also enjoyed the love story between Jane and Asher. At times I got a Jane Eyre vibe from the book with the “master” falling in love with the governess (or nanny in this case) and a “mad wife” in the attic being the ghost of Susanna Price. Indeed there were references by young Levi that he heard his mother in the attic and that made me think the author was perhaps intentionally making the reader think of that reference. It also reminded me of one of my other favorite books, Rebecca, with Susanna as the Rebecca character that everyone else must be able to move beyond to be able to start life anew.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

Blythe Barton Stowe has just endured a terrible Hollywood divorce, made more terrible by the fact that her famous director husband cheated on her with her sister Ellie while she tended to their dying grandmother back in Wyoming. Determined to put the past behind her, Blythe travels to Cornwall to find out if she is connected to the past of a Blythe-Trevelyans manor home, which is currently owned by Luke Teague. Once at the manor house, Blythe finds herself attracted to Luke and also experiencing strange flashes back into the past of her erstwhile ancestor, Blythe Barton.

I really enjoyed A Cottage by the Sea. The novel was a thoroughly modern story with a historical fiction twist. It was different from most books I’ve read and I loved the difference. I also loved the many references to one of my favorite authors, Daphne Du Maurier, and many of her classic works. The only one I haven’t read yet that was mentioned is Hungry Hill. It sitting sadly on my shelf, waiting to be lined up in my reading cue! Overall, I had a very hard time putting the book down and found myself staying up late into the night to see what would happen next in both the modern and historical stories. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

Book Source: Advance Review Copy from Sourcebooks. Thank-you!

Major Plot Points on Book Covers and Daphne Du Maurier Novels Now in Print!

Daphne Du Maurier is one of my favorite authors of all time. I first discovered her when my friend Stephanie loaned Rebecca to me when I was 14. I was smitten and have since read Rebecca several times. At that time, Rebecca and I think Jamaica Inn were the only two Du Maurier novels currently in print. I have spent the years since then searching for her novels in used books sales and antique stores and have a good collection.

I was more than a little excited when I stopped by Sam’s Club yesterday and noticed beautiful new publications of three of my favorite Du Maurier novels, Frenchman’s Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and The King’s General. I checked the publisher and noticed it was Sourcebooks, one of my favorite publishers. I think it is wonderful that such wonderful books are now in print for others to discover. I can now get them as gifts for family and friends!

My only complaint was that a MAJOR plot point was revealed on the back cover of The King’s General. When I first read The King’s General, I had no idea what was going to happen. It is a historical fiction novel set during the English Civil War and starts off with the romance between a high spirited girl named Honor and a captivating man named Richard. Not to far into the book, a shattering event takes place and totally changes the novel. I was very surprised by this event and it really made the book for me. I thought Du Maurier had been fearless and original to take the novel in that direction. Unfortunately, readers of the new novel will not be able to experience the surprise as it is spelled out on the back cover. Have you ever had this happen to you before when you read a novel? I’ve had this happen a few times this year. I want the novel blurb to be captivating, but I also don’t want it to ruin the plot! Comment Below!

My Cousin Rachel is the novel that Rebecca fans must read. It is another psychological thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end. Frenchman’s Creek is a wonderful historical fiction romance involving a woman named Lady Dona St. Columb who discovers herself as well as the love of a sexy French pirate. I also love the 1940’s movie version starring Joan Fontaine and the 1990’s Masterpiece version starring Tara Fitzgerald. I plan on picking this for my book club sometime in the New Year and am happy that there will be more readily available new versions of the novel!

These three novels are some of Du Maurier’s best novels. I highly recommend them, but please – do not read the back cover blurb on The King’s General!