Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier

After Midnight by Daphne Du Maurier

by Leave a Comment

I have to say this collection was fantastic from beginning to end. It has a great introduction by Stephen King and then you just get to Daphne Du Maurier doing what she does best. All of the stories are five stars in my opinion. The Blue Lenses-We follow a married woman whose sight is restored, but what she sees now, shows something ominous could be in her future. I thought the ending was a great gut punch and you can guess at what happens to […]

Living in Her Shadow

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

by Leave a Comment

Rebecca is often presented as a gothic novel, but it’s actually hard to pin down the genre. It has some gothic elements, some suspenseful elements, a marriage plot. Ultimately, I would characterize it as psychologically suspenseful litfic. The psychological suspense relates to the narrator, who remains unnamed for the entirety of the book. Twenty-one at the start of the novel, she is working as a lady’s “companion” in Monte Carlo, when she meets and falls in love with widower Maxim de Winter, and they marry within […]

A Gothic Classic for a Reason

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

by 6 Comments

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. The opening chapters of Rebecca by Daphne du Marier are a haunting introduction to a place we will come to know quite well by the end of the book. Our unnamed narrator takes us past the lodge house, up the long drive to the old house, all the while reflecting on how nature has begun to take over the grounds and land, and only the most intrepid poacher would dare to trespass. She then thinks on their […]

Don’t Look Now…and some other random stories

Don't Look Now & Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

by Leave a Comment

I was several pages into the first story of this collection, the titular Don’t Look Now, when I realized that I’ve seen this movie! I remember liking the movie just fine, mostly because I love Donald Sutherland, but also thinking that the pacing and climax were a little strange and unconvincing; the horror elements were there but it didn’t quite pack a punch for me. This is also how I felt about the short story, and indeed, about this collection as a whole.  I won’t […]

Resounding Meh.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

by Leave a Comment

After the death of her mother, twenty three year old Mary Yellan has little choice but to sell off her family’s farm and move in with her sole living relative, Aunt Patience. Mary hasn’t seen her aunt in years and thus has no idea what to expect when she travels to the remote Jamaica Inn, buried deep in the Cornwall Countryside. The coach driver who takes her there tells her the Inn has a bad reputation, but won’t say much more, though Mary soon understands […]

Daphne du Maurier (2)

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier

by Leave a Comment

“The first thing I noticed was the clarity of the air, and then the sharp green color of the land.” This novel is kind of like Kindred, but where not much happens. Or rather, the focus is very different. Dick is visiting his friend Magnus’s country house, and he’s asked to sample a potion that Magnus has concocted. They’ve been friends since college and I guess this doesn’t seem too crazy, so he does. Soon he’s transported back to the middle ages where he witnesses […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo