Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Daphne du Maurier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daphne du Maurier. Show all posts

Friday, May 22, 2009

Winners of duMaurier books!

So sorry I am late posting the winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel - without further ado


To AuntRene for winning Frenchman's Creek and
to Jessica.Marie for winning My Cousin Rachel!

I will be notifying the winner's by e-mail and they will have 3 days to get me their info or I will have to draw for new winners. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did learning all about Daphne du Maurier!

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier (Book Review)


Title: Frenchman's Creek
Author: Daphne DuMaurier
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz LTD, 1941.
Reprinted by Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2009

First sentence: When the East wind blows up Helford River the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily upon the sandy shores.

My summary: In chapter 2, when we first meet Dona (Lady Dona st. Columb) she appears to be a selfish, spoiled brat. Running away from London, from her husband, from her life - which she felt was smothering her. She was looking for escape. She did not like the woman she had become and was afraid that that was all there was to her life. She travels to Navron, their country estate, of which she has not seen in over 6 years. With her in her escape are her 2 children and their nanny, Prue.

She settles into life at Navron very easily and enjoys the solitude and the quiet that it brings her. On one of her walks she discovers a creek that flows through the trees on the property. Before she knows it, she has been taken 'prisoner' by a pirate whose ship is docked in her creek. This pirate is the Frenchman.

They soon realize that they are very much alike in their search for escape and adventure. Their unlikely friendship quickly turns to love. The Frenchman has been plundering many of Dona's neighbors and relieving them of their treasures. These neighbors finally band together, putting out the call to Harry, Dona's husband in London, as well as others to come and help catch this pirate.

What will Dona choose? Her new life as a pirate with the man who has become more important to her than she could have ever guessed? Or her husband and children and a life in London that seems stifling? With either choice comes loses that will be hard to bear. Which would you choose?

My thoughts: I loved this book. For some reason I tend to avoid books that were published before I was born. I am not sure why this is, as I always seem to enjoy them. Maybe because many of these were books or authors that we were "supposed" to read in school.

After reading the first chapter of The Frenchman's Creek, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the book. Before I knew it, I was so caught up in the story that I did not want to put it down.

Her writing is so easy and flowing that it was wonderful to read -

The wheel of La Mouette lifted under her hands, and the ship heeled over in the freshening breeze, and all this, she thought, is part of what we feel for each other, and part of the loveliness of living, the strength that lies in the hull of a ship, the beauty of sails, the surge of water, the taste of the sea, the touch of the wind on our faces, and even the little simple pleasures of eating, and drinking, and sleeping, all these we share with delight and understanding, because of the happiness we have in one another. (p162)


I have owned My Cousin Rachel, Rebecca, and Jamaica Inn for at least 15 years and have not read them. I am definitely going to read them after enjoying Frenchman's Creek so much!

Stay tuned for my winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel which were supposed to be announced 2 days ago!

Frenchman's Creek
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Landmark/March 2009
ISBN 10: 1-4022-1710-2
ISBN 13:978-1-4022-1710-4
280 pages

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Happy Birthday Daphne du Maurier!

Webfetti.com


Today is Daphne du Maurier's 102nd Birthday! In honor of her, Sourcebooks is giving away one copy of Frenchman's Creek to a reader and one copy of My Cousin Rachel to a reader!

It is easy to enter - just tell me some fact about Daphne or something about one of her books - I don't care if you google her and find info that way - but then we can all learn more about this amazing author.

One entry per person - open to U.S. or Canada only. Contest will run for one week - ending May 20th at 6pm CST. MUST LEAVE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!

Now, a little about the books.




Jaded by the numbing politeness of Restoration London, Lady Dona St. Columb revolts against high society. She rides into the countryside, guided only by her restlessness and her longing to escape.

But when chance leads her to meet a French pirate, hidden within Cornwall's shadowy forests, Dona discovers that her passions and thirst for adventure have never been more aroused. Together, they embark upon a quest rife with danger and glory, one which bestows upon Dona the ultimate choice: sacrifice her lover to certain death or risk her own life to save him.

Frenchman's Creek is the breathtaking story of a woman searching for love and adventure who embraces the dangerous life of a fugitive on the seas. (synopsis from book cover)





Philip Ashley's older cousin Ambrose, who raised the orphaned Philip as his own son, has died in Rome. Philip, the heir to Ambrose's beautiful English estate, is crushed that the man he loved died far from home. He is also suspicious. While in Italy, Ambrose fell in love with Rachel, a beautiful English and Italian woman. But the final, brief letters Ambrose wrote hint that his love had turned to paranoia and fear.

Now Rachel has arrived at Philip's newly inherited estate. Could this exquisite woman, who seems to genuinely share Philip's grief at Ambrose's death, really be as cruel as Philip imagined? Or is she the kind, passionate woman with whom Ambrose fell in love? Philip struggles to answer this question, knowing Ambrose's estate, and his own future, will be destroyed if his answer is wrong. (synopsis from book cover)




It's time to tell me what you know!



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