Book Review: THE KING'S GENERAL by Daphne du Maurier

The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"My last ride. The sun in my eyes, the wind in my face... unforgettable, unforgotten, deep in my soul for all time."

You know those "unputdownable" books that make you stay up until the wee hours of early morning to finish, the ones that make your eyelids defy gravity and your body defy the lack of coffee? Trust me, they come few and far in between. And this is definitely one of them. Daphne du Maurier made me feel like if I put the book down, the Civil War I was living in would come to a disastrous end! And so I didn't.

"You have no pride then, no feeling for your name?"
"My name is Honor, and I do not hold it tarnished."

How much trouble can Honor, an immobilized lady, get into during the English Civil War? This book answers: A LOT.

The idea for this novel came from the discovery of a skeleton inside a secret room, in the old house where du Maurier lived.

Good authors have the capability of showing their reader another time and place, as a ghostly witness to history. GREAT authors transport you there in High Definition and make you feel like you're bleeding in a different century, before the discovery of antibiotics! And today I care so much about the Royalists and Parliamentarians!!!

It was apparently a best-seller back in 1946, and trust me, all the hype about Daphne du Maurier is real! I will now hunt down all her books because, quite simply, NOTHING ELSE COMPARES. I am hesitant to label this book as a "gothic horror," or as a "romance," because while there are elements in the novel, to classify it under those convenient phrases is to diminish the epic that is "The King's General." (And also, the plot of TKG violates some basic rules of the romance genre, but to say any more is to spoil, so that is all I shall type!)

TKG brings to mind a Disney animated film so wonderfully made, that they make spin-off TV shows based on the characters from it. Well, that's what TKG is like, compared with the best romance novels I've read (and I've read far too many!).

What sets TKG apart, for me, is how the heroine was ever clear-eyed about the many faults of the man she loved. It was very "realistic" in the sense that she showed the limits of all-consuming passion, that there were things far more important and enduring. 

I was particularly touched by this passage:

"For mine own part I desire to acquire an honest name or an honorable grave. I never loved life or ease so much as to shun such an occasion, which if I should, I were unworthy of the profession I have held, or to succeed those ancestors of mine who have so many of them, in several ages, sacrificed their lives for their country."

Some people accuse her of purple prose. But I'll take the noble, vivid color any day over the pale, washed out imitations in print!

Sky darkening, storm clouds gathering? Go flood-proof your domain, then hunker down in bed with this book to wait it out. It will be your most unforgettable and enjoyable rainy day.

View all my reviews