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The Loving Spirit
  
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The Loving Spirit (Hardcover)

by Daphne, Dame Du Maurier (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Cornwall, 1900s. Plyn Boat Yard is a hive of activity, and Janet Coombe longs to share in the excitement of seafaring: to travel, to have adventures, to know freedom. But constrained by the times, instead she marries her cousin Thomas, a boat builder, and settles down to raise a family. Janet's loving spirit - the passionate yearning for adventure and for love - is passed down to her son, and through him to his children's children. As generations of the family struggle against hardship and loss, their intricately plotted history is set against the greater backdrop of war and social change in Britain. Her debut novel, The Loving Spirit established du Maurier's reputation and style with an inimitable blend of romance, history and adventure. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


About the Author

Daphne du Maurier was born in 1906 and educated at home and in Paris. She began writing in 1928, and many of her bestselling novels were set in Cornwall, where she lived for most of her life. She was made a DBE in 1969 and died in 1989. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Eh, well every writer does have to write the first novel, May 30 2009
By Misfit (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Loving Spirit (Paperback)
"High above the clustered houses and the grey harbour waters of Plyn, the loving spirit smiles and is free."

Although you know I'm not going to tell if that's from the beginning of the book or the end. This first novel of Du Maurier's tells the story of four generations of the Coombe family of Plyn, Cornwall beginning in the early 1800's as young bride Janet Coombe, happy as she is with her children and husband, always longs for the freedom of the sea. Her son Joseph follows his mother's dreams and sets sail in the merchant ship built by the Coombe family and named after his mother - as is her image the figurehead at the prow of the ship. Joseph eventually marries, but his real love is always the sea and when he can no longer sail he takes his bitterness out on his family, which eventually leads to dire changes in their lives.

Joseph's son Christopher, realizing he is not cut out for the sailing life, abandons ship in London and ekes out a living there and marries his landlady's daughter Bertha Parkins. Finally tiring of London life, they return to Plyn in hopes of reuniting with his estranged family and find work in the family's shipbuilding business - although his uncle Phillip's grudge against Joseph continues unabated against his son and forces the grief stricken family to return to London. The book culminates with the story of Christopher's daughter Jennifer as her restless spirit brings her back to Plyn to a chance meeting with a long-lost cousin at the wreck of the Janet Coombe, as well as a show down with her great-uncle Phillip over the damage his hatred has wreaked on the Coombe family.

Throughout the book, the loving spirit of Janet Coombe seems to guide her family through the best and worst times of their lives. As a first book it is certainly good, but far from what readers of her later classics might expect, and a bit slow paced for the most part except the last 50 or so pages - she had me biting my nails for a while there. While I do enjoy family sagas continuing over multiple generations, this one is far from the best either, a bit too short and not as well developed as I like them. I'd recommend this one for fans of Du Maurier wanting to get a look at her first book, but I doubt there's enough here to hold the interest of a more casual reader. 3/5 stars.
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