Product Description
The illustrated story of the relationship between Daphne Du Maurier - author of such books as "Rebecca", "Jamaica Inn" and "Frenchman's Creek" - and the spirit of Cornwall. ... Read more

Product Description
A poignant portrait of the unknown Brontë.

As a bold and gifted child, Branwell Brontë’s promise seemed boundless to the three adoring sisters over whom his rule was complete. But as an adult, the precocious flame of genius flickered and burned low. With neither the strength nor the resources to counter rejection, unable to sell his paintings or publish his books, Branwell became a specter in the Brontë story, in pathetic contrast with the remarkable achievements of Charlotte, Anne, and Emily. Daphne du Maurier concentrates all her biographer’s skill on the shadowy figure of Branwell Brontë, and no reader could fail to be intensely moved by Branwell’s final retreat into laudanum, alcohol—and death.

Dame Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) wrote more than 25 acclaimed novels, short stories, and plays, including Rebecca and The House on the Strand. She was also a passionate and skillful biographer. Now, her finest biographical works are being reissued in the distinguished Virago Modern Classics series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice to see this reissued
This is one of two works I've read about the puzzling life of Branwell Bronte, and this is the one you should read first. You'll enjoy it, and appreciate the more recent novel by Douglas A. Martin all the more for having this background beforehand. ... Read more

Product Description
The stories in this collection, some written before du Maurier published her first novel, reflect many human emotions:romance, disenchantment, fantasy, nostalgia, ambition, irony, the longing for adventure.Each of them is based on something observed, something overheard, and all will provide pleasure for every mood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lackluster Endings
I'm not much of a short story fan but, having read almost all of Du Maurier's other works, "The Rendezvous & Other Stories" became more of a necessary reading than a chosen one. DdM clearly writes well, and consistently well at that. But each of these 14 short stories lacked a wallop. The set-up for a "zinger" conclusion was built into each story, with an ending that didn't make itself evident until not just the final paragraph, but even the final sentence. I guess, then, that that was the problem -- 14 excellent stories that led to a potential "wow' ending that fizzled instead.

One of the best short story collections I've ever read!
Daphne du Maurier wrote various short stories over the course of her life, many of which could be found here.The Rendezvous and Other Stories contains several of her best work.Why settle for her novels when you can catch glimpses of her brilliance in shorter stories?

"Leading Lady" and "The Rendezvous" were written during her youth.These stories showcase flawed, selfish and oftentimes unlikable characters that seem true to life and remind me a great deal of Julius and Mary Anne."Angels and Archangels" has a similar theme, only it isn't as engaging as the previous two.Du Maurier also displays her keen eye for dry, ironic humor, a style that always accompanied her writing but was more conspicuous in her last novels.The aforementioned humor could be found in "Adieu Sagesse."The storyline in that one, while somewhat contrived, uses the author's understated love for humor.There are also her signature dark and disturbing tales, like "No Motive."That one is quite mind-blogging."The Closing Door," my favorite, is also very dark, displaying the cruel and manipulative side of the human mind."Split Second," "Panic," and "Indiscretion" are also quite brilliant. I'd already read "La Sainte-Vierge" and "Escort" in another du Maurier collection called Don't Look Now, but I enjoyed them more the second time around. And last, "Fairy Tale" and "The Supreme Artist" are not the best here, but by no means bad either.

All in all, this is one of the best short fiction books out there.Daphne du Maurier displays her versatile talents in this unique and literary collection.I got this in the mail yesterday, and I couldn't resist reading the stories.My one disappointment is that "The Pools," a ghost story, is not included in this book, and I don't like the idea of buying a short fiction compilation just to read that one story.The story "Don't Look Now" is also notably absent.If you're a fan of Ms. Du Maurier and enjoy short fiction, then by all means do not, I repeat, DO NOT miss this one.Read them; savor them as though they were rich chocolate.I should've taken my time with this book.I WANT MORE!!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nunca llegó el producto.
Pedí este libro para un regalo en noviembre antes de la navidad y nunca llegó.Se le envió correos a la empresa que se le compró y nunca averiguaron que pasó.Obviamente si hicieron el cobro del dinero. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

FANTASTIC STORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
ONE OF THE FEW POSITIVE ACCOUNTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION I HAVE READ

Excellent account of a family living thru the Fr. Revolution
Daphne du Maurier has written a very moving, fictionalised account of her family during the time of the French Revolution.The historical detail is fascinating, and the family relationships are marvelously done.You can "hear" the voices of the characters, smell the smoke from the glass house and from the guns in war, feel the pain of loss, and the bittersweet quality of victory and reunion.This book should be required reading for studies of both the French Revolution and human nature ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

FANTASTIC STORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
ONE OF THE FEW POSITIVE ACCOUNTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION I HAVE READ

Excellent account of a family living thru the Fr. Revolution
Daphne du Maurier has written a very moving, fictionalised account of her family during the time of the French Revolution.The historical detail is fascinating, and the family relationships are marvelously done.You can "hear" the voices of the characters, smell the smoke from the glass house and from the guns in war, feel the pain of loss, and the bittersweet quality of victory and reunion.This book should be required reading for studies of both the French Revolution and human nature ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the author of The Birds and Rebecca discusses Du Maurier's final, reclusive years, the success of her books, Hitchcock's film adaptations of her work, and her friendship with John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. ... Read more

Product Description
Three famous novels by one of the great storytellers. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

Product Description
Selected and condensed by the editors of Readers Digest: 6 Tales are/Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier...Mission to Malaspiga by Evelyn Anthony...Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt...The High Valley by Jessica North...Thunder Heights by Phyllis A Whitney...Tregaron's Daughter by Madeleine Brent ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Star crossed
Arthur Quiller-Couch was a keen student of Cornwall and Celtic history and lore. Not surprising, then, that he would write a novel set in almost-modern-day Cornwall and based on the legend of star-crossed lovers Tristan and Isolde. The result is a delightfultale in which the characters are disguised only thinly and the pre-ordained events lead to the inevitable conclusion. Quiller-Couch was a talented and thoughtful writer whose descriptive skills and dialogue bring life to this story, which was already ancient when retold in the early middle ages. Readers conversant with classic mythological themes and devices will enjoy finding them embedded in this narrative.
Daphne DuMaurier, a close friend of Q's, was also enchanted with Cornwall and mythology, so it was natural that his heirs would ask her to complete his unfinished manuscript. She did so in such a way that it is difficult to discover where he left off and she carried on.
This book is a little known gem that deserves a modern readership. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Scare in Venice
I love Daphne du Maurier's books, and this one is a favorite.Read it years ago, and when I saw it on Amazon, I had to have it for my permanent collection.If you like mystery, and the special atmosphere of Venice, you will really enjoy this book.

Empty stories filled with senseless plots.
"Don't Look Now" is just one of many pointless, non-thriller, lackluster, poorly written short stories by Daphne du Maurier.I could not find a point in any of the five stories, and they all left me feeling empty."Don't Look Now" was completely dim-witted and anti-climatic (as were all the stories)."The Breakthrough" did make me question science and at how much we want to live, but the characters were flat and lifeless."Not After Midnight" felt like it was going on a downward spiral to nowhere land, without a point to be found."A Border-Line Case" left me feeling repulsed and wondering what du Maurier was trying to say."The Way of the Cross" made me wonder if du Maurier's way of thinking is that God gives people their comeuppance; I found the shifting narrator to be irksome and it showed how little the author gave her characters varying personalities.I closed this book realizing, that after these stories, along with "Rebecca," that du Maurier has a very monotone and bland style of writing; she often goes of on pointless tangents."Pointless" is the ever returning word when speaking of du Maurier's writing.I do not recommend.

Twists & Turns at each Stop
Daphne du Maurier's "Don't Look Now" is an exceptional collection of short stories.My favorite is "A Border-Line Case."The sense of place of the small island on which Ballyfane Castle in Ireland is located is exquisitely described.Also, the plot unfolds at a boiler pace and doesn't let down until the final reversal.Shelagh starts the story with her father's odd death.Obviously closer to her dad than her mom, she seeks to uncover a bit about his past before beginning her role with the theatre company.This leads her to seek out Commander Nicolas Barry.She is taken almost forcefully in the dead of night in a boat over to the island, her belongings are fetched from the Kilmore Arms hotel, and she finds herself a guest of the unusual Commander Nicolas Barry almost against her will.Add to this the strangeness of seeing her parents' wedding picture in his living room with Barry's head superimposed over where her father's head should be.From there she tries to figure out what is going on here as this woman-less band of 12 men populate the island.Thinking they might possibly be homosexuals, she finds herself as they are digging at an excavation on the island.Finally, the novel speeds to its climax as we suddenly find ourselves square in the middle of Irish Republican Army bombings.The final reversal at the end caps off an incredible short story.

It was "Don't Look Now" that was made into the great 70s film with Donald Sutherland & Julie Christie.This is also a marvelous tale of intrigue as a couple tries to adjust to the loss of a child.Add to this the flare of Venice with its canals and travel by boat, two strange sisters with psychic ability who claim the dead child is trying to communicate, and we come up with another tremendously satisfying story.

"The Breakthrough" with its emphasis on science and trying to have a computer capture a living essence at the moment of death is rather like H.G. Wells' science fiction."Not After Midnight" also has a tremendous sense of place as an English tutor holidays in Greece.I was a bit confused at the end as to why the story began with him resigning his post, but the story is populated with great characters.The final story "The Way of the Cross" works somewhat less well with quite a huge cast of characters to shuffle through 70 pages, which kept me trying to figure out who went with whom.

All in all, this is an excellent collection of short stories by a great writer.Enjoy!

4 stars because I did enjoy reading it even though...
... I was really expecting a lot more from this book. I purchased it for the story "Don't Look Now", which is often said is a mere shadow of what I think is a great film(even though the book came first). I felt that all of the stories pulled you in to begin with, but the endings were just flat? "Not after Midnight" was pretty good but again the ending did no justice. "The Way of the Cross" was also interesting, great character development from the little boy "Robin" way too wise for his age and "Rev. Babcock" talk about conflicted! But again the ending just left you empty? Not that I wanted blood and ghastliness, but just a bit more force or painful irony,
à la "The Twilight Zone"

This is a good book to read to and from work (if you take the train or bus of course!)

a mixed bag of goodies from the great Daphne Du Maurier
Daphne Du Maurier is one of my favorite authors.Her prose is always elegant.Unfortunately her shorter novels have a tendency to clash with her style; characterizations are not well-developed, the outcome somewhat forced.This is generally true also with this collection of short novels written by Du Maurier late in her career. "Don't Look Now" and "Not After Midnight" are the better of the bunch, but none are enthralling ... certainly not when compared to her best short novel "The Birds" (yes, the story from which the film is loosely based on).

Bottom line: go for the author's novels (eg, "The Scapegoat" or "Rebecca") instead of these stories.Still, this book is overall a satisfactory read. ... Read more