[[nid:5577]] I could read Daphne du Maurier stories for the rest of my life. The title story completely terrified me, even though I've read it before and seen the movie! I put du Maurier in the company of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith in the dread-filled-short-story hall of fame. You also can’t go wrong with Rebecca—it never disappoints.
[[nid:5581]] These were sharp, cutting period pieces, where everyone is drinking orangeade and eating lettuce sandwiches while suffering from catarrh. If I had to compare them to something, it would be The Stories of John Cheever, which is high praise indeed. I expected to like the New York stories the best, but I actually preferred the Western stories, full of people trying to make their escape from Adams, Colorado (usually in vain). Full of disappointments and dashed fantasies, these are not for the lighthearted.
[[nid:5576]] Lady Slane's late-in-life decision to flout convention, avoid hypocrisy, and pursue honesty in all of her relationships is empowering.
[[nid:5579]] This one (which is Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott) has brilliant interior monologue with a splash of unreliable narrator, and the same narrative thrust as a mystery as you eagerly try to piece together the facts of the woman's life. The end was devastating.
[[nid:5578]] So, so hilarious. Written in the style of Bridget Jones's Diary, but in 1930. This is my very favorite kind of humor, wry and biting about the trials of everyday life.
