A Ranking of All Daphne du Maurier’s Novels I Read

May is the month of Daphne du Maurier’s birthday. Since reading one of her books for the first time in 2017, I have been delving into her work every year and discovering mostly atmospheric, gripping tales, which more often than not are full of interesting characters. I read in their entirety and enjoyed to varying degrees eight of her novels (I also picked up The Loving Spirit last year, but as I decided not to finish it, I’m not considering it for the purpose of this post) and two of her collections of short stories (I’m currently reading another). 

Today I’m only focusing on her novels, which I’m about to order from my most to my least favourite. If your curiosity is aroused by the short descriptions, the titles link to more in-depth reviews as always.

1. Rebecca

The first book that I read by Daphne du Maurier remains my favourite. Rebecca is narrated in the first person by an unnamed woman who marries Maxim de Winter after meeting him in Monte Carlo. She has always been prone to self-doubt, being extremely insecure. This personal feature is only exacerbated when she moves to Manderley, her new husband’s family home, seeing that she keeps comparing herself to his deceased first wife, Rebecca. The novel comprises not only a gripping mystery, but also fleshed out characters. It’s an unmissable book for those looking for an atmospheric and enigmatic story. 

2. Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn is an almost perfect novel. Soon after her mother’s death, Mary Yellan moves in with her aunt Patience and her husband Joss Merlyn, who owns Jamaica Inn. She quickly realises that he is a brute and is involved in some kind of illegal activity. Throughout the book, there’s a palpable sense of danger, which is partly achieved thanks to the atmospheric prose and the mysterious ambience. The main character is believably portrayed and the dialogues are outstanding.

3. The King’s General

Set in the 17th century, The King’s General may have at its core a love story, but it’s also much more than that, since themes related to pride, betrayal and acceptance are part of this compelling book as well. The characters are definitely remarkable. In spite of his notorious faults, Honor Harris falls in love with Richard Grenville. Although an event results in their separation, they end up meeting again later in life. Their interactions are fascinating, entertaining and charming. 

4. The Scapegoat 

Doppelgänger stories are not a novelty, but Daphne du Maurier managed to create an impressive one in The Scapegoat. It’s particularly remarkable how the dialogues convey that one of the parts involved knows significantly more about a situation than the other person, who is pretending to be familiar with something he has in fact no clue about. That is a consequence of the main character and narrator having his life turned upside down after meeting Jean de Gué, a Frenchman who looks exactly like him, at a station buffet. After both deciding to stay at a hotel, Jean leaves secretly the following day taking with him the narrator’s personal effects. The narrator decides then to also pretend to be Jean.

5. My Cousin Rachel

Having read My Cousin Rachel just some months after Rebecca may have hindered my enjoyment of it somewhat, because I couldn’t help comparing it to my favourite one. However, it is still a book worth reading. Daphne du Maurier successfully makes us question our perception of the characters throughout. After the death of his cousin Ambrose, who raised him, Philip started harbouring suspicions regarding his cousin Rachel. Despite that, he ended up falling in love with her, leading him to the brink of madness. The mysterious mood achieved throughout is impressive, but Philip’s feelings are not entirely convincing.

6. Frenchman’s Creek

Tired of the superficial life of the London court, the main character in Frenchman’s Creek, Lady Dona St Columb, decides to move to Navron, her husband’s estate in Cornwall, with their children. While there, she falls in love with a French pirate. Despite the conversations between the two characters being fantastic and their personalities being attractive, they just fall in love a bit too quickly. The descriptions of the locations and the many thrilling moments give life to the book.  

7. The Flight of the Falcon

Daphne du Maurier used a variety of writing tones throughout The Flight of the Falcon, which is narrated by Armino. He is a tour guide in Italy. A mystery is introduced not long after the beginning of the book. Armino decides to return to his hometown, which he left when he was eleven years old, following the death of a homeless woman whom he gave a significant sum of money to. After a funny opening, the novel becomes more introspective, enigmatic and tense. In order for the book to be close to perfection, the behaviours of some of the characters needed to be further delved into.

8. The House on the Strand

In The House on the Strand, Daphne du Maurier combined sci-fi and historical fiction, as the main character, Richard Young, tries a new secret drug, created by his long-time friend Professor Magnus, that allows him to mentally travel in time without being seen. While in the 14th century, he becomes infatuated with Isolda. Although the narrator’s struggle to deal with his addiction to the drug is convincing and thought-provoking, I was not as interested in the part set in the past.

After having DNFed The Loving Spirit, I researched a little bit more about the Daphne du Maurier’s novels that I haven’t read yet and became inclined not to pick any of them up, because I was either suspicious of the writing style or the storyline didn’t immediately appeal to me. In case you have read Julius, I’ll Never Be Young Again, Hungry Hill, The Parasites, Mary Anne, The Glass-Blowers or Rule Britannia, please tell me in the comments if I’m making a mistake by not reading them! Also, have you read or want to read novels by Daphne du Maurier? Could you rank the ones you’ve read?