A review by hjrey
Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am a cabin-boy again, and Dona St Columb is asleep and dreaming.

About: Dona St Columb is part of the aristocracy, and all the talk of the Court with her pranks and scandalous nights out. But during one of her escapades, she realises how meaningless her life has become - as if she's never truly lived, and so takes off with her two small children for the country. Damn her foolish husband and damn the gossips. She wants quiet. Peace. What she finds, however, are pirates and a whole new life she never believed existed. One of freedom, stealing wigs, and silences that fill her more completely than any air she's breathed before.

Thoughts
A pirate book that's fun and feminist, that's fast-paced but with so much depth. I loved the characters, especially Dona. She's such a great female protagonist. We see her as the beautiful, witty, playful flirt of London, and we see her as the loving, devoted mother. We also see her be selfish and reckless. Depressed and lonely. Quiet and content. She's an actual human being with multiple moods and real personality.

Daphne du Maurier was the master of creating a mood and setting, and this one hooked me straight away. I loved the juxtaposition of the stuffy, laughable high society to the danger and adventure at sea. The romance is fatalistic and yet has this vivacious energy that feels like waking up. As Dona sinks into the fantasy of pirate life, she seems to be more vivid than ever.

And as serious as the novel is on questions of gender roles and what drives us, what really matters in life, it's also light-hearted. I loved the humour. William and Dona were great together, the look at the aristocracy was very Jane Austen, and the audacity of the Dona and the Frenchman was so much fun to read.

The ending is ambiguous, as I think it needed to be, but it asks the reader all the right questions and I came away just amazed at how well this story holds up. Asides from the terrible and relentless description of Pierre Blanc.

Overall, Daphne du Maurier was such a talent and this is a classic that needs as much love as her other more famous works.