Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Virago (2005), Paperback, 288 pages
Description
A magician, a virtuoso. She can conjure up tragedy, horror, tension, suspense, the ridiculous, the vain, the romantic - Good Housekeeping 'Mary Farren went into the gun room one morning about half-past eleven, took her husband's revolver and loaded it, then shot herself. The butler heard the sound of the gun from the pantry...' The fourteen haunting stories in this collection span the whole of Daphne du Maurier's writing career and explore every human emotion: an apparently happily married woman commits suicide; a steamer in wartime is rescued by a mysterious sailing-ship; a dull husband breaks loose in a surprising fashion; a con woman plays her game once too often; and a famous novelist looks for romance, only to meet with bitter disappointent. Each meticulously observed tale shows du Maurier's mastery of the genre.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Greatrakes
Includes The Rendezvous, Adieu Sagesse and Fairy Tale, three I picked because they are so different. She has a way of finding the ordinary cruelties and shortcomings of ordinary people and hinging her uncomfortable and disturbing stories on these imperfections.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
An interesting set of stories al with a twist in the tale.
LibraryThing member SheReadsNovels
The Rendezvous and Other Stories is a collection of short stories written by Daphne du Maurier. Some of them are among the earliest examples of her writing and most of them, as you would expect if you've ever read any of du Maurier's work before, are slightly disturbing and unsettling. She takes
Many of the stories are just 10-20 pages long - perfect if you don't have a lot of time, although in most cases I would have preferred them to be longer and more developed. My favourite story from the collection was No Motive, in which a private detective investigates an apparently motiveless suicide. I felt it could easily have been expanded into a full length detective novel, though it worked well as a short story too. The other one that really stood out for me was Split Second, in which a woman goes out for a walk one afternoon and returns home to find strangers living in her house. This story had a touch of the supernatural about it, as did Escort, which describes a ship leaving port during World War II and being rescued from a submarine attack by a mysterious sailing ship.
I liked the three stories I've just mentioned, as well as The Closing Door and La Sainte-Vierge, but there were too many of the others that I just didn't enjoy very much. However, it was still interesting to read them and see how good Daphne du Maurier's writing was even in the early stages of her career.
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some quite ordinary situations and ordinary, flawed people, and adds undertones of suspense and drama.Many of the stories are just 10-20 pages long - perfect if you don't have a lot of time, although in most cases I would have preferred them to be longer and more developed. My favourite story from the collection was No Motive, in which a private detective investigates an apparently motiveless suicide. I felt it could easily have been expanded into a full length detective novel, though it worked well as a short story too. The other one that really stood out for me was Split Second, in which a woman goes out for a walk one afternoon and returns home to find strangers living in her house. This story had a touch of the supernatural about it, as did Escort, which describes a ship leaving port during World War II and being rescued from a submarine attack by a mysterious sailing ship.
I liked the three stories I've just mentioned, as well as The Closing Door and La Sainte-Vierge, but there were too many of the others that I just didn't enjoy very much. However, it was still interesting to read them and see how good Daphne du Maurier's writing was even in the early stages of her career.
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LibraryThing member passion4reading
The blurb tells us that the "fourteen haunting stories collected here span the whole of Daphne du Maurier's writing career", when in fact Minette Walters in the Introduction to this selection of short stories informs us that all but several were written before 1931, when du Maurier published her
I have to admit that I didn't get on with the stories at all: all but one have at its heart weak or unlikeable characters (sometimes both), and to me they felt on the whole contrived, predictable, and often lacking in tension, atmosphere and genuine surprises, with only occasionally a well-aimed stab at small-mindedness, pettiness, hypocrisy, class snobbery and prejudice; these stabs are the more effective because they are understated, and not spelled out in capital letters as are some of the climaxes. (I guess this is where her relative inexperience is most noticeable, as if she didn't trust herself to spell out the conclusion clearly enough or the reader to draw the obvious parallels.) The stories I liked the most were "The Escort", which is more mature and atmospheric than the others and a complete thematic departure (told in the first person, with a nautical theme during war-time) from the rest of the collection, along with "Split Second", which is atmospheric and intriguing and held my interest, with the protagonist's emotional turmoil portrayed very effectively, even though it was to a degree predictable and not entirely convincing.
Minette Walters praises the collection because in her opinion they already show immense maturity for someone so young; I don't agree. In the Introduction, Daphne du Maurier is quoted as saying that the early ones (i.e. short stories) especially showed something of her development as a writer; as this they may be of interest, but I think I prefer her later work.
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first novel, and the rest between 1937 and 1947, when she was in her thirties, so all of them can be considered to be written fairly on in her career.I have to admit that I didn't get on with the stories at all: all but one have at its heart weak or unlikeable characters (sometimes both), and to me they felt on the whole contrived, predictable, and often lacking in tension, atmosphere and genuine surprises, with only occasionally a well-aimed stab at small-mindedness, pettiness, hypocrisy, class snobbery and prejudice; these stabs are the more effective because they are understated, and not spelled out in capital letters as are some of the climaxes. (I guess this is where her relative inexperience is most noticeable, as if she didn't trust herself to spell out the conclusion clearly enough or the reader to draw the obvious parallels.) The stories I liked the most were "The Escort", which is more mature and atmospheric than the others and a complete thematic departure (told in the first person, with a nautical theme during war-time) from the rest of the collection, along with "Split Second", which is atmospheric and intriguing and held my interest, with the protagonist's emotional turmoil portrayed very effectively, even though it was to a degree predictable and not entirely convincing.
Minette Walters praises the collection because in her opinion they already show immense maturity for someone so young; I don't agree. In the Introduction, Daphne du Maurier is quoted as saying that the early ones (i.e. short stories) especially showed something of her development as a writer; as this they may be of interest, but I think I prefer her later work.
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LibraryThing member BrokenTune
Since finishing this collection last night, I've changed my mind - 3, not 2 stars.
Du Maurier's short stories are - for the most part of this collection at least - just not as engaging and atmospheric as her novels.
I think it's mostly because there is such a difference in quality between the
I loved the first and the last story ("No Motive" and "Split Second") and enjoyed "Panic" and "Adieu Sagesse", but the rest of the stories didn't appeal to me and some just were a bit bland.
Du Maurier's short stories are - for the most part of this collection at least - just not as engaging and atmospheric as her novels.
I think it's mostly because there is such a difference in quality between the
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stories, maybe partly because they are ranging from early works to some later ones.I loved the first and the last story ("No Motive" and "Split Second") and enjoyed "Panic" and "Adieu Sagesse", but the rest of the stories didn't appeal to me and some just were a bit bland.
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LibraryThing member Helenliz
A series of short and not so short stories that are a very wide range. There is mystery in here, at times of a detective type, at others of a supernatural type. They all have a twist in there somewhere. Those I enjoyed the most were the first, a detective is set out to discover why a young pregnant
I listened to this, read by Edward da Souza, who has a very pleasant reading voice. Heartily recommended!
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wife suddenly commits suicide, and one where a ship in the North Sea in WW2 encounters a submarine and an escort. All the stories are worth reading, and while some are better than others, there are no real clunkers in the collection. I listened to this, read by Edward da Souza, who has a very pleasant reading voice. Heartily recommended!
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Original publication date
1980
Physical description
288 p.; 7.72 x 4.96 inches
ISBN
1844080714 / 9781844080717