While trying to think whom to cover for another Unnecessary Rankings! post, I was looking around my bookcases and alighted on Daphne du Maurier. She was prolific, and I’ve read quite a few of her books. But I am slightly wary – because I also haven’t read a fair number of her books. And there’s always the danger someone will reply “You haven’t read Jamaica Inn??” or something similar. Well no, dear reader, I have only read 10 of du Maurier’s books. And yet here we go, I’m going to rank them…
10. The Progress of Julius (1933)
Later reprinted as Julius, this novel about the rags-to-riches of a selfish, cruel man is fairly well-written – but I’ve put it last because I hated reading it. The whole thing just felt so antisemitic and I ended up feeling dirty reading it.
9. The Flight of the Falcon (1965)
There’s a reason you seldom hear anybody talking about this one. I found this story of two brothers getting to re-know each other in a beautiful Italian city interesting for the scenery, but otherwise pretty boring.
8. The Rebecca Notebook (1981)
The title essay of this slim collection is an outline of Rebecca and gives the sort of insight into its writing history that you wouldn’t normally get. It’s fascinating. But the other essays in the collection are more or less padding, and Daphne du Maurier doesn’t have a lot of interest to say about religion, but says it a fair few times.
7. The House on the Strand (1969)
The narrator, Dick Young, takes an experimental drug that transports him to the 14th century – where he follows the man who lived there then, Roger, and Isolda, married to a powerful local knight. Given my distaste for historical fiction, this was very much a mixed reception for me. I loved all the sections set in the present day, and was bored rigid by the 14-century stuff.
6. Short stories (various)
I’ve grouped all of these together, even though I’m sure there are some I haven’t read, as I’ve read a few collections and can’t remember what was where. ‘Don’t Look Now’ is deservedly famous, and I like all her stories that use creeping discomfort to create a gradual terror.
5. Frenchman’s Creek (1941)
This novel caused an infamous disagreement between me and Our Vicar’s Wife (aka my Mum) – when I reviewed it in 2012 and my Mum had a post the following day, defending the pirate! I maintain that the heroine and hero of this novel are horrible people, as she abandons a kind, good man to have an affair with a selfish man for whom ‘toxic masculinity’ could have been invented. But I can’t deny that it’s a very compelling and enjoyable read nonetheless.
4. Gerald: A Portrait (1934)
Daphne du Maurier’s biography of her father is an absolute delight. It is incredibly subjective, of course, and many of the passed-down anecdotes about his early life are probably apocryphal – but what makes it wonderful are du Maurier’s beautiful writing and the way we are immersed into Gerald du Maurier’s life as an actor and theatre manager. Daphne du Maurier brings the theatrical world alive, and the whole book is a lovely, fascinating tribute.
3. The Scapegoat (1957)
You do have to swallow quite a lot of disbelief in the premise of this novel – an English man is forcibly swapped with his French doppelganger, and nobody in the strange new family seems to suspect anything – but, after that, it’s worth it. As a novel of mistaken identity it is great fun – as a novel about the legacy of France’s occupation, it is very moving.
2. My Cousin Rachel (1951)
Did she or didn’t she? No novel does ambiguity better than My Cousin Rachel, which has – at its heart – the culpability or otherwise of a young widow, in the eyes of the deceased man’s cousin, Philip. His mind goes back and forth, putting him deeper and deeper into indecision and torment. Du Maurier walks a tightrope with impeccable judgement, and it is the perfect book group book.
1. Rebecca (1938)
If I were feeling all contrarian, I’d put something else at the top – but the reason Rebecca is the best known is because it’s the best. The unnamed Second Mrs de Winter comes to Manderley as the much-younger new bride of Maxim de Winter, who throws her to the wolves in the form of du Maurier’s greatest creation – the haunting, formidable housekeeper Mrs Danvers. The twists and secrets keep you guessing, and it’s the perfect updating of the gothic novel – still as chilling and engaging now as it was all those decades ago.
What do you make of my rankings? And which of her other books should I prioritise?
Hmmmm! ‘Toxic masculinity’ and the French philosopher pirate? No, my son – That term can be reserved for Rockingham!
I haven’t read a couple of these (Gerald and Rebecca notebooks), but I generally agree with your ratings. I don’t like Frenchman’s Creek for other reasons, that the narrator left her kids for that jerk, so I might put it behind The House on the Strand. (Du Maurier was fairly famously neglectful or her own children and husband.) Rebecca is definitely the best. I don’t see Jamaica Inn on your list, though.
I can’t work out if your last line is a joke, Kay, or if you missed the reference to it in the intro to this post!!
I ranked du Maurier’s novels on my blog a few years ago after I finished working through them all and Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and The Scapegoat are all in my top four, along with The House on the Strand, which I obviously liked a lot more than you did! Of the books you haven’t read yet, I think you might enjoy The Parasites.
A few people have mentioned Parasites and, happily, I already have it!
I am a super fan of Du Maurier and have read some of the lesser known ones. I strongly recommend, “Hungry Hill”, probably my favourite of all. I also picked up her completed version of “Castle Dor” – building on Arthur QC’s draft. I read it not far from Fowey in the summer, so it was even more atmospheric.
I am with your Mum about Frenchman’s Creek and the pirate. What an adventure for the heroine! And what is fiction for if not vicariously following an entertaining story with characters that make immoral choices who you are secretly rooting for even though you would never make the same choices in real life?! Frenchman’s Creek is one of my favorite Du Maurier novels. Tell your Mum to read Camilla by Dumas fils if she hasn’t already! Another story in a similar vein, though no pirate this time.
Oo don’t think I’ve heard many people talk about Hungry Hill, so that’s good to know. Thanks!
So pleased to see The Progress of Julius last on this list. I bought it second-hand without thinking about it, and was shocked when I dug it out for DDM reading week. It is so antisemitic that though my usual practice is to recycle books through a charity shop or put it in a Little Library, I literally chucked it out because I don’t want anybody to read it.
The (only) good thing about that is that it has made me alert to signs of antisemitism in her other novels.
I can well understand that! I think I did send it to a charity shop, but I wouldn’t really wish it on anybody else. Horrible.
I am with your Mum about Frenchman’s Creek and the pirate. What an adventure for the heroine! And what is fiction for if not vicariously following an entertaining story with characters that make immoral choices who you are secretly rooting for even though you would never make the same choices in real life?! Frenchman’s Creek is one of my favorite Du Maurier novels. Tell your Mum to read Camilla by Dumas fils if she hasn’t already! Another story in a similar vein, though no pirate this time.
Haha! well, I suppose I can forgive actions in fiction that might be reprehensible in reality
I recently tried to read The House on the Strand, but it was a DNF for me. I realized I do not like time travel books where the portion in the past is just being viewed, not participated in — like watching the History Channel. And this was not even interesting history. Plus, the whole setup was too ridiculous, having someone wander around in the present while their mind was in the past — I couldn’t believe they would not be seriously injured in some way or apprehended as a lunatic! Perhaps that did happen in the part of the book I didn’t read.
I agree with your top three though. And I’ve been wanting to read Gerald, even more so now.
Yes, I think you’ve put your finger on it – the time travel sections felt so passive.
I’ve only read her Rule Britannia about a futuristic military occupation of Cornwall, which was… amusing, and a bit strange.
Intriguing!
Awesome!
Rebecca was my #1, until I read The Scapegoat, which totally blew me away.
And yes, you absolutely need to read Jamaica Inn!
I really do! I did see a play of it once.
I recently read The Glass Blowers, based on her ancestors in revolutionary France, and I found it much more enjoyable than you would expect such an obscure novel to be! I don’t know why it isn’t better known.
Oh interesting, yes, I don’t hear that one discussed very much
Is it wrong that what I love most about this post is the fact you and your Mum argued over a pirate? I have read Frenchman’s Creek but can’t recall very much about it! Otherwise, the du Maurier’s I’ve read that you’ve read are in the order I would put them in too. My Cousin Rachel is fab, but Rebecca pips it by a whisker. I’ve always wondered about The House on the Strand, but reading your summary I, ah, think not. There really are so many books I haven’t read……
Haha! It was very popular at the time – people like to see a little family feud :D
My favourite of Du Maurier’s books is probably her non-fiction Vanishing Cornwall, closely followed by The King’s General – but I like House on the Strand and Frenchman’s Creek a lot more than you do, and don’t much like Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel! (I can see that they’re good, I just don’t enjoy them.) Having said all that, you may be encouraged to hear that I was bored stiff by Jamaica Inn …
Oo Vanishing Cornwall isn’t one I’ve heard a lot about – good to know.
Rebecca is actually one of my very favourite books. It is so hard to choose a favourite when you read so often, but if I really had to choose one, Rebecca would be it. Strangely enough, I was actually introduced to it in high school when it was one of our class books. I don’t think anyone else in the class enjoyed it, but I was in raptures from the very opening line. Here is an admission, I love it so much that I have never actually read any of du Maurier’s other books. I don’t know why – I suppose I have always been a little bit worried that if they didn’t live up to Rebecca it would somehow impact my love of the book. Perhaps this year should be the year I am brave enough to try something new by du Maurier.
Ah I can definitely see why you would be wary of diminishing it! As you can see from my rankings, I do think Rebecca is the best – but lots else to enjoy. Maybe some non-fiction would be a good way to explore more Daphne du Maurier with less at stake?