'Frenchman's Creek' by Daphne du Maurier

I read Daphne du Maurier's 'Frenchman's Creek' ages ago, kinda forgot about it, and then thought of it the other day and was like 'wow, that was such an enjoyable book!'

So, this is not a review; rather, it is the dregs of my memory of a holiday read that taught me a few important life lessons, which are as follows:

•  Every girls needs, at the low points in her life, a French philosopher-pirate. 

•  If you're going to be stuck in Cornwall with several small children, without husband or company, don't waste the little free time you have tidying up after everyone and watching rubbish reality TV. Instead, use your imagination to write a story where you are a wild, spirited and beautiful aristocratic rebel who flies in the face of convention and runs off to sea to have androgynous adventures with the afore-mentioned French philosopher-pirate. Anything else would be a waste.

•  Daphne du Maurier is an insurmountable goddess and we would all do well to emulate her.

ends







In My Mailbox: Holiday Edition

Hello all, and apologies for my prolonged absence, aside from my little pop-up appearances on 12 Books 12 Months, which I'd like to thank Ali for again. Things have been a littllleee stressful, shall we say, and unfortunately all interest of sitting at my computer after hours just fell away into the ether, and all I wanted to do with my downtime was watch Mad Men and read books completely unaccountably in the darling little cafe that opened up a month or two ago just down the road from my flat. It was a little scary, after angling all my efforts towards the words on my computer screen an' all, but I think I'm over the worst of it now, which is no bad thing because, at the last count, I have eight books hanging around for review (!) and perhaps need to get them done before I forget the main plot points and the protagonist's name.

Anyway, I thought I'd make a start with an In My Mailbox post, hosted as ever by The Story Siren, detailing the books I devoured on a blissful stress-bursting holiday to Croatia, from whence I returned yesterday. Reviews of all to follow the inevitably epic Union Jack-waving, bunting-laced, Coronation chicken-flavoured Jubilee weekend which starts tomorrow in the UK. Yay for the Queen! And now to the books:

 I picked up 'Eugenie Grandet' by Honore de Balzac at my local library quite impulsively whilst looking for Croatian travel guides in the week before I was off on my hols. This is a book that I've been meaning to read for about a year now, after hearing Rose Tremain endorse it as 'the book she'd most like to pass onto the next generation' at the Vintage Classics Day at Foyle's on Charing Cross Rd back in May last year. Apparently, she's also done the TV adaptation for this book, which is currently in development with Lime Pictures.

I changed tack a bit for the next book I read:'Deadlocked: A True Blood Novel' by Charlaine Harris.  This is the twelfth of thirteen planned Sookie Stackhouse novels (that the thirteenth one is the final one was confirmed the other day) and since becoming a bit obsessed with True Blood the HBO TV show, I've bought them all as soon as they've been released. I suppose it's my happy concession to the vampire craze :)


 


Then came 'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick Dewitt, a stunningly-covered book that was sent to me as part of the last round of books from the More4 TV Book Club. What a book. Really looking forward to reviewing this one.  

 

 

I then arrived to the party about 3 years after the main players left it by finally reading 'One Day' by David Nicholls, although unfortunately after my husband had been somewhat destroyed by it, so the spoiler for everyone else was not a spoiler for me. Ho hum. FYI, I did not find it hard to relate to Emma.

Then, shock horror, I was out of books! (At least, until Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy became free.) This, 'Frenchman's Creek' by Daphne du Maurier, was hanging around the hotel lobby, waiting to be borrowed, and from amongst the stiff competition posed by German translations of the Scandinavian crime classics and Jackie Collins' 'The Stud', I picked up this as 'Rebecca' is such a fave (it was actually a fairly close run thing).

Thanks to this book, I realise now that what everyone needs in their life is a French philosopher-pirate.




And to the last! I'm still reading John le Carre's 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' as I write this, and I think I know what's going on. I think. (Cough.)


Look for reviews of all of these, plus a few more, in the next few weeks.  





Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Manderley Again...

...when I arrived at my friend's beautiful wedding venue this weekend in Gartocharn, Scotland, and was reminded overwhelmingly of the iconic Manderley of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

It was, of course, stunningly, starkly, beautiful, but it had that slightly eerie menace of wild places that could turn nasty as soon as the weather pulls in and someone malevolent steps out from behind that tree.

There was a long, straight, tree-lined driveway, a stark edifice of a Gothic mansion right next to a boatyard and a huge expanse of very cold water.

Yes, I might have been being a little dramatic, but see what you think: