The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Hello folks!  After the Christmas break, New Year, a stomach bug and a stinking cold, here I am, back at the blog after what feels like far too long.  I have three books to talk about, so let's get cracking!

The first book I finished was a collection of short stories by one of my favourite authors; 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' by Daphne Du Maurier.

'The Rendezvous and
Other Stories' by
Daphne Du Maurier
(Virago Press, 2006)

'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' includes fourteen tales of deep secrets, dark passions and dubious motives, exploring the flawed characters and gothic themes for which Du Maurier is most famous.  A bored husband plans his escape; a faithful wife see what she wants to see; an arrogant author believes his own hype; a theatre actress plays politics to preserve her career; a happily married woman kills herself for no apparent reason.  Du Maurier has cast her sharp eye over those around her and used their shades of grey to bring her characters to life.

I really enjoyed 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' and feel it's the best collection of Du Maurier's work that I've read so far.  It begins with the most heart-wrenching story, 'No Motive', the tale of a happily married and pregnant woman who, for no obvious reason, shoots herself one morning.  This story goes for the jugular and will stay with me for a long time.

This collection includes a range of stories from throughout Du Maurier's writing career, so, while they're all excellent, some feel less confident and comfortable with the dark side of human nature and these are often the ones I liked the least.  For example, 'The Fairytale', the story of a gambler's wife and how he makes amends, showed an optimism that felt at odds with the hard-nosed pessimism of many of its companions.  This mix does give the book added appeal, however, as it should make it of interest to writers interested in exploring how Du Maurier's own style developed.

Overall, I was engrossed by 'The Rendezvous and Other Stories' and would thoroughly recommend it to fans of short fiction and the gothic genre.  I don't need to recommend it to Du Maurier fans as they've probably already read and enjoyed it!  I hope you do too.