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The King's General

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 1,208 ratings · 125 reviews

The highly anticipated reissue of the du Maurier classics American fans have been waiting for

"Daphne du Maurier has no equal." Sunday Telegraph

As civil war rages across England, the weak prove their courage and the privileged become traitors

In this sweeping, bittersweet saga, spellbinding author Daphne du Maurier recreates a most memorable and true love story. Honor Harris...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published May 6th 2004 by Virago (first published 1946)

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Historical Fiction: England's Second Civil War and Restoration

2nd out of 68 books — 51 voters

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Feb 08, 2009 Misfit rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, historical-fiction

Set during the English Civil War of the 1640's, du Maurier retells a lesser known bit of Cornish history as an elderly Honor Harris reflects back on her life and love. Wooed by the charming, irascible but extremely flawed Richard Grenvile, eighteen year old Honor loses her heart and prepares to marry Richard until an accident permanently cripples her from the waist down. Richard and Honor separate, but meet years later during the Civil War as he is now the King's General in the West as they figh...more Set during the English Civil War of the 1640's, du Maurier retells a lesser known bit of Cornish history as an elderly Honor Harris reflects back on her life and love. Wooed by the charming, irascible but extremely flawed Richard Grenvile, eighteen year old Honor loses her heart and prepares to marry Richard until an accident permanently cripples her from the waist down. Richard and Honor separate, but meet years later during the Civil War as he is now the King's General in the West as they fight the Parliamentarian rebels - although not all the Royalists think too highly of Richard's high-handed approach to prisoners and discipline. While Honor refuses to marry Richard, her feelings for him are as strong as before and they begin a most unusual relationship as the tides of war ebb and flow around them.

Honor takes up residence at Menabilly, the family home of Honor's brother-in-law Jonathan Rashleigh and things soon begin to go bump in the night in typical du Maurier fashion - mysterious comings and goings, a secret door, a mystery floorboard in the summerhouse and..... well more than that, I'm not telling - read it for yourself. du Maurier once again weaves a magical tale, albeit this time with real-life characters. The dialogue between Richard and Honor sizzles off the pages, as does the enmity between Honor and Richard's sister - and boy can those two swap some memorable barbs. The scene where those two sat and played at cards and witty repartee as the rebels sacked Menabilly to its bare walls was just brilliant, as was the bit when Richard over indulged in dinner and wine and called the troops back after retiring - simply priceless.

All in all a very unusual love story and an interesting glimpse at a footnote in Cornish history. I'd love to see this one on film - the actors would have a field day. As for Menabilly, du Maurier rented the home from the Rashleigh family and lived in it for some time and was the setting for her most famous novel, Rebecca. Five stars and now I'm off to find more of these almost long lost gems to put on the reading pile.(less)

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Apr 04, 2011 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, historicals, romances

Rating Clarification: 4.5 Stars

I knew I was going to love this book even before I picked it up. For one thing, it's by Daphne duMaurier, which means it's going to be top notch fiction. Secondly, it's set during a time period I really enjoy. Thirdly, my GR friends Laura, Barb, Misfit and Pat all rated it 4 or 5 stars (between them, these ladies know their historical fiction, so for all of them to rate it high was confirmation that this was going to be a winner).

I wasn't disappointed. DuMaurier's...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Phoenix rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my top two faves of du Maurier's - it's a love story and I always love that, but so much more. Just fantastically written.

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Dec 12, 2009 Paul Servini rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Romantic adventure story. Not quite a chilling Du Maurier story but still entertaining.

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Mar 19, 2013 Dolors rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

I had had this book on my shelf for quite a long time, bought it in impulse after having read Rebecca three years ago and having fallen in love with Du Maurier's captivating writing style.
I didn't seem to find the right moment to plunge into it, even more after the disappointment I had with "The loving spirit", Du Maurier's first novel.

Haven't I been losing time by reading far more mediocre books these past years!
The King's General is a book which has it all. A haunting castle which reminded me...more I had had this book on my shelf for quite a long time, bought it in impulse after having read Rebecca three years ago and having fallen in love with Du Maurier's captivating writing style.
I didn't seem to find the right moment to plunge into it, even more after the disappointment I had with "The loving spirit", Du Maurier's first novel.

Haven't I been losing time by reading far more mediocre books these past years!
The King's General is a book which has it all. A haunting castle which reminded me of Manderley quite dearly, a strong and unusual heroine, and a most-of-the-time hated hero. History, love and mystery mix together creating a unique setting for this novel.

Honor and Richard, a couple which are never truly together but who remain faithful to each other in their own ways. Honor Harris, the main character, falls in love with Richard, a soldier with dubious reputation, when she is barely eighteen. He is taken with her innocence and the way she looks at life, fair and strong willed in all her actions, Honor takes the best out of Richard.
When their life together is about to really start, Honor suffers an accident while horse riding and she is left crippled for the rest of her life, this misfortune making an even much stronger woman of her as she casts Richard away for his own sake, sacrificing her own happiness and getting prepared for a life of solitude, a punishment she is ready to bear, with pride and elegance.

What she isn't prepared for is to meet Richard, ten years after the accident, when he has become a key figure in the Civil War fighting for his King, and find her passion for him still alive. And Richard, much corrupted by time and bitterness finds his only calming balm in Honor's sensible reasoning and understanding.
Honor becomes then Richard's only and true confidant and plays an important role in the events that take place in Cornwall during the Civil War, taking in all of Richard's flaws with unconditional love and devotion, but always being true to her inner sense of justice.

I never thought I could enjoy a book about war and political strategy as much as I did enjoy this one.
Expect twists and turns and some lessons during this awesome ride, one you shouldn't miss for the world.
Don't wait anymore, go get it and read it on the spot!(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Arlene Hayman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Because I was so enthralled with Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca', I was anxious to read another of her books. Du Maurier possesses an eloquent writing style and when she combines it with the emotional qualities within a love relationship, I am captured from beginning to end. Although this story focused on the life-long relationship between Honor Harris and Richard Grenvile, many pages were devoted toward the civil war that created turmoil in all the lives of the characters in the novel. As I endea...more

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May 14, 2012 Nisareen rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my top three Du Maurier novels set at her beloved Menabilly during 17th Century Cornwall. It's based on real life events during the English Civil War and is inspired by a grisly discovery made in the nineteenth century when a skeleton was discovered at Menabilly in a hidden cell by a builder during renovations. Du Maurier weaves together a bitter-sweet love story between Honor Harris and the irascible Richard Grenvile whose planned marriage falls short when Honor is paralysed in a riding...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Aditi rated it 2 of 5 stars

God this book took me forever to finish. I was reminded aof Gone With the Wind at several points in the story and it struck me as a poorer version of that classic romance. It was only after I finished it that I found that the book was based on real events and real characters in the past, which gave the sometimes meandering and pointless narrative some perspective. It's a historical romance as well as an account of the conflict between supporters of the King and Parliamentarians in Cornwall and t...more

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Oct 04, 2009 Barb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hf-england-1600s, read-in-2009, du-maurier, favorites, favs-of-2009, on-the-keeper-shelf

This is the third novel I've read written by Daphne du Maurier, she is an amazingly talented writer. I read a ridiculous number of books every year and only rarely do I find myself giving out five star reviews. I love historical fiction and I love Daphne Du Maurier's writing.

The King's General is a complex and compelling story. Du Maurier weaves together a bitter-sweet love story and a tale of brutal civil war then adds a dash of suspense. The characters she creates are based on actual people an...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Thomas Acland rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1940-s, 20th-century, gothic, historical-fiction, romance, set-in-the-uk, war

If you read to me the blurb without hint to location or author then I would be letting you keep the book claiming it holds no interest to me. However if you so much as hinted that a novel is a du Maurier and set in Cornwall then I would have snatched the book from your hands as you read it.

Having for once actually read around this novel a little, what really impresses me is how historically accurate the novel is. Even down to the minor details, for example, Menabilly really did have a fake butt...more

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Jan 16, 2010 Manda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

I really liked this for the same reason that I really liked Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles series, where you have an antihero up against impossible odds who can be absolutely unlikeable at times. Unlike that series though, the main characters here were all real people, making du Maurier's blending of fact and fiction in this story nearly seamless. Du Maurier also makes the interesting choice to narrate the story from the point of view of Honor Harris, a woman who was once engaged to the tit...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Linda Blake rated it 2 of 5 stars

OMG, I finally finished this interminable book. Maybe if I liked British history more, I would have liked this book more. There were too many characters and the love story was just implausible. I did enjoy the dark places and the dark hearts. Maybe if there more of that...

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Dec 12, 2008 Ferris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Audiobook......................An excellent piece of historical fiction, a tale of civil war in England, a love story, and a coming of age story. Daphne du Maurier knows how to spin a tale. While the Royalists and the Parliamentarians are duking it out, the protagonist, Honor (I know, quite the loaded choice of a name), holds down the fort at a variety of homefronts. Her lover, the "Red Fox", Richard, the "king's general", is a character who engenders some ambivalence for me as a reader. Nonethe...more

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Jan 24, 2008 Tracey Chorley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: modernclassics, classics

This is the first du Maurier I read, so it will always hold a special place for me. If you've not read it I urge you to, it's atmospheric to the point that I obsessed about it when I wasn't reading it. Captivated me from page 1.

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Dec 23, 2011 Emery Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's been many years since I've read anything by Daphne DuMaurier. I had expected the gothic feel to the book but this was much more of a historical title than I had anticipated with very detailed accounts of the English Civil War as it affected those in Cornwall.

The main protagonists were unusual and the "hero" incredibly flawed. The relationship between DuMaurier's heroine, Honor, and the ruthless rogue,Richard Grenvile, can only be described as a truly "grand passion." I loved how Honor clear...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am liking Daphne du Maurier more and more. The first book of hers that I read, My Cousin Rachel, didn't really hit the spot for me. I found this one to be a fascinating read. The time period and the circumstances were unique and I'm not usually a war-loving book fan. I'm sure that made complete sense. I did some further research after I had read this book and all of the characters actually lived during the specific time period and in the specific city and the situation at the end of the book w...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: daphne-dumaurier, historical-fiction, books-i-own

Omg, wonderful book. I have to get my hands on some more Daphne Du Maurier!

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Apr 01, 2012 Deathbysexiness rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cripples-bastards-and-broken-things, dont-knock-it-its-a-classic, hell-hath-no-fury, his-storical-romance, tall-dark-and-heartless, kleenex-bazaar, possessive-jealous-controlling-mc, x-there-are-alphas, analyze-this, amourçe-dangeraux, lol-galore

This was the first Daphne du Maurier I read (at about age 9; I hated all my books and was avidly stealing all of my mother's) and this book was what made me remember her name. This is Richard (The King's General) and Honor's book - and boy was I hooked on this piece of historical fiction/not-so-fiction!

I have not read this book in fourteen years so don't take my rating as conclusive (It disappeared from the house soon after I read it!) but I think the fact that its a Du Maurier speaks for itsel...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Eleclyah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-stelle-belli, autori-francesi, romanzi-storici, commentati

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Un libro fuori catalogo, ma io l’ho trovato lo stesso in Internet.
L’altro che ho letto dell’autrice, Rebecca. La prima moglie mi era piaciuto di più. Non so cosa mi aspettassi, avevo sottovalutato il fatto che scrivere questo libro non fosse uno dei soliti autori di romanzi storici contemporanei, ma proprio la Du Maurier. Mi aspettavo azione, una storia d’amore appassionata, invece ho trovato qualche battaglia, un protagonista maschile quasi odioso, e la povera narratrice invalida dai diciotto a...more
Un libro fuori catalogo, ma io l’ho trovato lo stesso in Internet.
L’altro che ho letto dell’autrice, Rebecca. La prima moglie mi era piaciuto di più. Non so cosa mi aspettassi, avevo sottovalutato il fatto che scrivere questo libro non fosse uno dei soliti autori di romanzi storici contemporanei, ma proprio la Du Maurier. Mi aspettavo azione, una storia d’amore appassionata, invece ho trovato qualche battaglia, un protagonista maschile quasi odioso, e la povera narratrice invalida dai diciotto anni in su, per un incidente che la perfida sorella di lui avrebbe potuto, volendolo, evitare. Ma Gartred, alla fine, ha avuto quel che meritava, anche se in genere il concetto di “giustizia è fatta” è più radicale. Forse però la Du Maurier e ci ha messo un po’ più di realtà, in questo romanzo, rispetto gli altri che ho letto.
I personaggi sono realmente esistiti, almeno i principali. Perciò, immagino che bene o male le vicende siano state quelle.
Il libro a volte si trascina un po’ lento, infatti non l’ho finito subito e in mezzo ne ho letto un altro. Questo la dice lunga... il fatto è che non è come al solito, che trovi il personaggio preferito, lo segui, ti ci affezioni quasi... no! Stavolta il protagonista maschile è un cumulo di difetti (non ultimo, per me, il fatto di avere capelli rossi). L’unica cosa che lo rende umano è il suo amore per Honor, anche se devo dire che Richard ama a modo suo. Ma non avrei mai immaginato che a tradirlo potesse essere proprio... no, non ve lo dico! E queste cose non le vedo mentre leggo, ma a posteriori, in effetti, ci faccio un pensierino e dico “Ma che scema, dovevo capirlo subito!”. Eppure ogni volta ci ricasco.
A conti fatti, mi aspettavo davvero qualcosa di più. Non che il libro sia brutto, lungi da me paragonarlo ad altri libri che non mi sono piaciuti! Dopo tutto ha un suo fascino... avrei però dovuto documentarmi meglio sul periodo storico, come non faccio mai prima d’imbarcarmi nella lettura di un romanzo simile…

Loyall and stout: thy crime this, this thy praise…

(less)

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Apr 07, 2011 Nic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: popular-materials-class, sucks-to-be-everyone-in-this-book

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow! This book really impressed me.

My Popular Materials class is about to discuss best-sellers, and we were assigned to each choose and read a best-seller from between 1920 and 1950, and one from after 1990, so we can look at what they might have in common, what's different, etc. The King's General was a best-seller in 1946, and I like Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The writing style here is much like that of Rebecca, and the tone - even the framing device, with our...more Wow! This book really impressed me.

My Popular Materials class is about to discuss best-sellers, and we were assigned to each choose and read a best-seller from between 1920 and 1950, and one from after 1990, so we can look at what they might have in common, what's different, etc. The King's General was a best-seller in 1946, and I like Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

The writing style here is much like that of Rebecca, and the tone - even the framing device, with our female protagonist languishing in what is still comparative luxury in the present, reflecting on the past. Beyond that, though, the story is full of surprises.

First of all, it's historical fiction - and seems to have been pretty well researched. It's set before and during the English civil war - a time period I'd never read much about. I loved finding all the connections between the story and what I learned about the war in my excellent Stuart England class a few years ago. Besides that, the story takes place in Cornwall and Devon, and I lived in Devon for six months in 2008-2009, so I'd been to a lot of the places mentioned. (Not only do town names not change, du Marier apparently wrote this book while living in Menabilly, the house in which much of the story takes place!)

Another big surprise for me is that the narrator doesn't let on until 50 pages into this 370-page book that she is paraplegic. In a sense, it doesn't happen until that point - it's then when the accident occurs - but on the other hand, because of the framing device, she's known it all along. It works very well, though, and Honor's paralysis is very well handled through the book. It clearly affects her life, and just as clearly affects the way people see her, but it doesn't make her a tiny bit less active and capable. Honor hides fugitives and saves lives, defends family and friends, spars with a bitter rival, and conducts a sweeping love affair with the Royalists' most notorious general. She doesn't come off as a victim, nor does she have that "noble sufferer/better than everyone else" obnoxiousness. She's just awesome.

Pretty amazing descriptions of war, too. I especially like the four-week period when Honor and her friends and family are held under guard at Menabilly after the house is taken by Parliamentarians.

There are a few points I wonder about. A small one: what's the deal with the game of piquet Honor plays with Gartred? Is Honor just being dramatic when she says she's playing for the life of Richard's son? The game doesn't actually decide anything. When Honor wins, Gartred doesn't call off the men, and had Gartred won, Honor surely wouldn't have told her where Dick was hiding.

I felt Dick's suicide was senseless, and was annoyed that no one stopped him. I'm unsurprised that Richard didn't stop him, but as soon as Honor got the note she should have sent someone, secrecy be damned, just in case Dick was still alive. The kid's, like, seventeen, and miserable because he's been abused his whole life. You can't just shrug and go, "How sad, he was so brave."

I'm interested in the emotional effect authors get by telling you about things that are coming. From the beginning of the novel, Honor drops hints about Gartred's scar, Gartred and Robin, John's death (which never actually comes up in the novel, just the framing device), and more. She straight-up tells the reader that she and Richard will not get married and live happily ever after. A book group I'm in recently discussed the use of this technique in The Book Thief, and how - among other things - maybe you read the scene more clearly when you know what the outcome will be, because you're not blindsided and just sitting there going, "Holy crap, he died?"

Anyway, I'm a little surprised this book isn't more popular now. It's totally awesome.(less)

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May 09, 2010 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't put this book down! I got wrapped up in the tragic love story and historical drama. I love historical fiction, and I love a good romance story, and Daphne du Maurier is a master at both. I also loved the setting in Cornwall...I've been there on several occasions, so I can picture it all! I'm surprised that this book is hard to find. I loved "Rebecca" and I'm anxious to try other du Maurier books. This is my book club selection, and I hope everyone will forgive me that it's hard to fin...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

A Uni friend recommended The King's General to me when I was writing one of my 17th Century novels. It opened the door to the world of Daphne du Maurier for me and reminds my favourite of her novels. The character of Honor will always stay with me as one of the strongest examples of a flawed heroine, whilst Richard Grenville remains one of my favourite anti-heroes. A really fantastic, fast-paced and ultimately heart breaking story. I wish I could write as good as this.

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Aug 13, 2010 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars

An historical novel set in the South of England during the English Civil War. Most of the novel's activities happen in the years 1644 through 1648, although there are some descriptions of life during the period before the Civil War, and some later descriptions of life during the interregnum. The author has a very interesting and inviting manner of writing. The author has written a number of other novels and I look forward to reading another of her works sometime.

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Aug 25, 2012 Victoria Vane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Sep 13, 2012 LemonLinda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Du Maurier used real historical figures involved in the English Civil War during the 1600s where there was a local figure in Cornwall who was dashing and daring and surrounded by controversy and she wove a story of intrigue and mystery and drama around this colorful figure. The characters were mostly based on those who actually were a part of the drama of the day and thus had a spirit of true loyalty to the crown, but Grenville, the hero or villain as it were, was rebellious and willful and dete...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Federica rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, history, narrativa, romance

«Fu allora che mi venne per la prima volta l'idea che, mettendo in iscritto gli eventi di quei pochi anni, mi sarei liberata di un fardello. La guerra, e come essa cambiò le nostre vite, come ne fummo tutti presi e spezzati e come le nostre vite si intrecciarono disperatamente l'una all'altra. Gartred e Robin, Richard ed io, l'intera famiglia Rashleigh: tutti chiusi in quella casa di segreti.»

- Honor

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Sep 07, 2009 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fiction, historical, most-influential, own-hardback, master, written-review, books-for-megan, author-i-love, books-for-bettie, books-for-sarah

I read this long ago, when I was a teenager, so do not remember many details of the plot, except that it involved a very unusual love story between a general in the army of King Charles I (English Civil war) and a woman who was a paraplegic. The general, Richard Grenville, was engaged to the woman many years ago, but then she had a terrible accident that paralyzed her from the waist down and refused to see him again (too depressed, didn't want his pity, etc.) When the civil war begins, he ends u...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

When you read this book after reading Rebecca or her short stories, you really wonder if some of those allegations of plagiarism weren't based on the truth. That said, I enjoyed it. It's a bit long, a bit repetitious, and the male character is under written, but I enjoyed reading something of the English Civil War from a Cornwellian point of view (if a very, very privileged point of view).

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Mar 01, 2013 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great story and the fact that it is based on a true story, even better. All I can say is war is hell and Du Maurier does a great job of visualizing the scene and you feel like you are right there, minus the starvation of course. I guess I read this book years ago but forgot the story so I found a great reason to hold on to my books to reread years down the road and enjoy them all over again.

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Sep 10, 2009 Arundhati rated it 5 of 5 stars

i first strated reading this book in 2006 but then my exams started and i couldnt finish it...after that i could never get my hands on the book again...i found it again a couple of weeks ago and finished it just 10 mins ago...it is one of the best books i have ever read and i dont know how i am ever going to able to read another book without comparing it with this one...daphne du maurier was definitely one of the best writers.....

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About Daphne du Maurier

If Daphne du Maurier had written only Rebecca, she would still be one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Few writers have created more magical and mysterious places than Jamaica Inn and Manderley, buildings invested with a rich character that gives them a memorable life of their own.

In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Born int...more If Daphne du Maurier had written only Rebecca, she would still be one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Few writers have created more magical and mysterious places than Jamaica Inn and Manderley, buildings invested with a rich character that gives them a memorable life of their own.

In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, the daughter of a famous actor-manager, she was indulged as a child and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, who married her.

Her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. While Alfred Hitchcock's film based upon her novel proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.

Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England, Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: a Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.

While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love or fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.

In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image or a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.

In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story. The nameless heroine has been saved from a life of drudgery by marrying a handsome, wealthy aristocrat, but unlike the Prince in Cinderella, Maxim de Winter is old enough to be the narrator's father. The narrator thus must do battle with The Other Woman - the dead Rebecca and her witch-like surrogate, Mrs Danvers - to win the love of her husband and father-figure. The fantasy of this novel is fulfilled when Maxim confesses to the narrator that he never loved Rebecca; indeed, he hated her, a confession that allows the narrator to emerge triumphantly from the Oedipal triangle.

http://www.dumaurier.org/obituary.html (less)

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Quotes from The King's General

“In memory of Robert Harris, sometime Major-General of His Majesty's forces before Plymouth, who was buried hereunder the 29th day of June 1655. And of Honor Harris his sister, who was likewise here underneath buried, the 17th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1653.
Loyall and stout; they Crime this--this thy praise.
Thou'rt here with Honour laid--though without Bayes.” — 2 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/50248.The_King_s_General?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347438793l/50248.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/50248.The_King_s_General?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The King's General by Daphne du Maurier[/url]

The King's General

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