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amyvl93's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I adore so many of Daphne du Maurier's novels, and so have a bit of a solo challenge to read her entire backlist. The Loving Spirit is her debut novel, published when she was just 24, and covers many of the themes and tropes that will be seen throughout her books moving forward, just slightly less successfully.
The novel opens following Janet Coombe, living in coastal Cornwall, gripped by a desire to explore and run wild in nature and the sea - but her gender forces her to choose marriage and family, and she settles into a peaceful existence, until the birth of her son Joseph who is her mirror and equally enamoured with the sea, not the shore. We go on to follow his son Christopher seeking fortune in London, and finally Christopher's daughter Jennifer, as she seeks to understand her family history.
The title comes from an Emily Bronte poem, and the spirit of Emily's novel Wuthering Heights is clearly felt here, with tangled family relationships and obsessions echoing through the ages. This is most clearly, and uncomfortably, seen in the relationship between Janet and Joseph. I would have enjoyed this a whole lot more, if I didn't have to read pages and pages of a relationship between a mother and a son which read far too like a relationship between two romantic leads - including an emotional reunion involving climbing through a window after being away. I found the novel really improved once we moved away from this relationship, and into the other generations, Joseph goes a bit Heathcliff-lite in later life, and his relationships with women (aside from his mother) are particularly uncomfortable to read.
On the plus side, Du Maurier's evocation of place is brilliant - Plyn's geography and community feels vivid and real, and when the action moves to London in the 1900s it is also evocatively drawn, and there are times when Christopher's boarding house feels like a comedy of manners. There is also great movement through the decades, and through the changing context and landscape of sailing and trade that was providing a community its lifeblood.
Lots of potential here, but one that I think is worth it for Du Maurier completists rather than on its own merit.
The novel opens following Janet Coombe, living in coastal Cornwall, gripped by a desire to explore and run wild in nature and the sea - but her gender forces her to choose marriage and family, and she settles into a peaceful existence, until the birth of her son Joseph who is her mirror and equally enamoured with the sea, not the shore. We go on to follow his son Christopher seeking fortune in London, and finally Christopher's daughter Jennifer, as she seeks to understand her family history.
The title comes from an Emily Bronte poem, and the spirit of Emily's novel Wuthering Heights is clearly felt here, with tangled family relationships and obsessions echoing through the ages. This is most clearly, and uncomfortably, seen in the relationship between Janet and Joseph. I would have enjoyed this a whole lot more, if I didn't have to read pages and pages of a relationship between a mother and a son which read far too like a relationship between two romantic leads - including an emotional reunion involving climbing through a window after being away. I found the novel really improved once we moved away from this relationship, and into the other generations, Joseph goes a bit Heathcliff-lite in later life, and his relationships with women (aside from his mother) are particularly uncomfortable to read.
On the plus side, Du Maurier's evocation of place is brilliant - Plyn's geography and community feels vivid and real, and when the action moves to London in the 1900s it is also evocatively drawn, and there are times when Christopher's boarding house feels like a comedy of manners. There is also great movement through the decades, and through the changing context and landscape of sailing and trade that was providing a community its lifeblood.
Lots of potential here, but one that I think is worth it for Du Maurier completists rather than on its own merit.
wyemu's review against another edition
4.0
I'd picked this book up many years previously, read the first page or two, and then put it down as I didn't think I was in the right mood for it. Something about it at that time made me feel it would be boring in comparison to the others by du Maurier which I had been racing through recently. This feeling persisted for many years and I just couldn't bring myself to try again, convinced for some unknown reason that I wouldn't be able to get into it, that it would ne a drag to get through.
I can't believe how wrong I was. The first 2 sections flew by reading about Janet and then onto her most loved child. To be honest, their relationship seemed a little weird at times, more like how lovers would interact rather than mother and son, which is not to say that anything creepy like that happened, they just had this super close bond as the "loving spirit" connected them. That and their love of adventure and the sea. Moving onto the next 2 generations of the Coombe family, I did lose interest slightly in comparison to the first. However, this didn't last long and I was quickly able to re-engage with the new characters being focussed on. Maybe it was because the action moved to London for some time with Christopher when he abandoned ship, realising that a life at sea was not for him the way it was for his father and grandmother. Things picked up again when he moved his family back to Plyn, perhaps du Maurier deliberately adapted her style to make Plyn and the action there more enjoyable than in other places. Certainly the suffocating lifestyle living in his mother-in-laws house was clear, more so when the narrative is taken over by his daughter, forced to return to London as a young child.
I don't want to say too much more in case I give away some of the story but I appreciated the balance of male and female protagonists, the spirited nature of them despite the rules of social etiquette at the time, and the fact that some of the harm done to Christopher and his father is undone by Christopher's daughter in the end.
Reading this book has reignited my enjoyment for du Maurier's writing and I look forward to reading the others on my shelf I have not yet read by her.
I can't believe how wrong I was. The first 2 sections flew by reading about Janet and then onto her most loved child. To be honest, their relationship seemed a little weird at times, more like how lovers would interact rather than mother and son, which is not to say that anything creepy like that happened, they just had this super close bond as the "loving spirit" connected them. That and their love of adventure and the sea. Moving onto the next 2 generations of the Coombe family, I did lose interest slightly in comparison to the first. However, this didn't last long and I was quickly able to re-engage with the new characters being focussed on. Maybe it was because the action moved to London for some time with Christopher when he abandoned ship, realising that a life at sea was not for him the way it was for his father and grandmother. Things picked up again when he moved his family back to Plyn, perhaps du Maurier deliberately adapted her style to make Plyn and the action there more enjoyable than in other places. Certainly the suffocating lifestyle living in his mother-in-laws house was clear, more so when the narrative is taken over by his daughter, forced to return to London as a young child.
I don't want to say too much more in case I give away some of the story but I appreciated the balance of male and female protagonists, the spirited nature of them despite the rules of social etiquette at the time, and the fact that some of the harm done to Christopher and his father is undone by Christopher's daughter in the end.
Reading this book has reignited my enjoyment for du Maurier's writing and I look forward to reading the others on my shelf I have not yet read by her.
bookwards's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This novel follows four generations of one family all tied together by the free spirit matriarch Janet and her longing for the sea. Contains drama and wild gothic edges and financial failures, romances and family members plotting against each other but also lots of love and gentle moving moments. Describes how we find and define our home and what urges, traits and passions play out through generations. Also some premonition action helps the characters and plot wind round each other in between timelines and beyond death itself. Go get covered in salt and wild sea air!
febeleest's review against another edition
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75*
My first Du Maurier novel and I wasn't blown away. It was a good story. But it took me almost a month to read the 272 pages, which is never a good sign.
* "Het leek Janet of deze heuvelkant een wereld was voor haar alleen, een eigen plekje vol herlderheid en begrip, waar alle verwarde gedachten en de wonderlijke onrust van haar hart verstilden en tot rust konden komen."
* "Zelfs de hoge bomen schenen in de avondschemering naar elkaar te neigen, als zij zochten troost."
* "Maar als jij het verlangt ... Thomas ... en je mijn kuren wilt verdragen - want bij tijden kan ik verbazend wild zijn - dan zal het ook mijn geluk zijn jouw huis met je te delen en voor je te mogen zorgen."
* "Het was alsof hij de macht bezat door zijn liefde en zorgzaamheid alle verwarde gedachten en ondurige verlangens tot kalmte te brengen."
* "Met je gedachten leeft je te vaak honderd jaren vooruit."
* "Al geloofde Thomas graag dat hij in alles zijn zin kreeg, Janet had toch meestenstijd het laatste woord."
* "Ze wist, dat ze de roepstem van haar hart moest volgen."
* "Wees nooit bang als die duistere gedachten komen, want altijd rust je in mijn armen, net als nu' zei ze sussend. Ook als je niets meer ziet of hoort en worstelt met jezelf, zal ik aan je zijde staan en voor je strijden."
* "Zij zouden nu verder voor elkaar zorgen, een leven lang. Zij zou al zijn geluk en al zijn ongeluk met hem delen."
My first Du Maurier novel and I wasn't blown away. It was a good story. But it took me almost a month to read the 272 pages, which is never a good sign.
* "Het leek Janet of deze heuvelkant een wereld was voor haar alleen, een eigen plekje vol herlderheid en begrip, waar alle verwarde gedachten en de wonderlijke onrust van haar hart verstilden en tot rust konden komen."
* "Zelfs de hoge bomen schenen in de avondschemering naar elkaar te neigen, als zij zochten troost."
* "Maar als jij het verlangt ... Thomas ... en je mijn kuren wilt verdragen - want bij tijden kan ik verbazend wild zijn - dan zal het ook mijn geluk zijn jouw huis met je te delen en voor je te mogen zorgen."
* "Het was alsof hij de macht bezat door zijn liefde en zorgzaamheid alle verwarde gedachten en ondurige verlangens tot kalmte te brengen."
* "Met je gedachten leeft je te vaak honderd jaren vooruit."
* "Al geloofde Thomas graag dat hij in alles zijn zin kreeg, Janet had toch meestenstijd het laatste woord."
* "Ze wist, dat ze de roepstem van haar hart moest volgen."
* "Wees nooit bang als die duistere gedachten komen, want altijd rust je in mijn armen, net als nu' zei ze sussend. Ook als je niets meer ziet of hoort en worstelt met jezelf, zal ik aan je zijde staan en voor je strijden."
* "Zij zouden nu verder voor elkaar zorgen, een leven lang. Zij zou al zijn geluk en al zijn ongeluk met hem delen."
patima's review against another edition
5.0
بخشی از کتاب:
" او دلش میخواست که همراه سایر مردان روی عرشه میرفت و در کشیدن تطناب ها، نگه دلشتن سکان شرکت میکرد.
با خود اندیشید:" چرا مرد به دنیا نیامدم؟ اگر این طور بود، میتوانستم الان در بین آنها باشم." و آنگاه این حقیقت را احساس کرو که جنسیت او مانند زنجیری به دور پاهایش بسته بود. "
" او دلش میخواست که همراه سایر مردان روی عرشه میرفت و در کشیدن تطناب ها، نگه دلشتن سکان شرکت میکرد.
با خود اندیشید:" چرا مرد به دنیا نیامدم؟ اگر این طور بود، میتوانستم الان در بین آنها باشم." و آنگاه این حقیقت را احساس کرو که جنسیت او مانند زنجیری به دور پاهایش بسته بود. "
bridgetcorkos's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rcsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This one is broken into four parts which each following a different member of the Coombe family. My only problem was part two which follows Joseph who is a jerk with a mildly incestuous obsession with his mum.
.
As well as the title coming from an Emily Bronte poem, there are quotes from her at the start of each section and Janet, our first Coombe, haunts the rest of the book like Cathy in Heights. We also have a bit of a Jane Eyre ending. There are lots of other gothic elements although I frankly felt bad for the "evil uncle" Philip because his mum was too obsessed with Joseph to give him any attention. I liked that he lived an extremely long time just so he could fuck with every generation.
.
The writing is beautiful and has Daphers usual descriptive charm which makes me want to go to Cornwall and sail around on boats.
.
Recommended to fans of the gothic and fans of a good intergenerational family drama.
.
As well as the title coming from an Emily Bronte poem, there are quotes from her at the start of each section and Janet, our first Coombe, haunts the rest of the book like Cathy in Heights. We also have a bit of a Jane Eyre ending. There are lots of other gothic elements although I frankly felt bad for the "evil uncle" Philip because his mum was too obsessed with Joseph to give him any attention. I liked that he lived an extremely long time just so he could fuck with every generation.
.
The writing is beautiful and has Daphers usual descriptive charm which makes me want to go to Cornwall and sail around on boats.
.
Recommended to fans of the gothic and fans of a good intergenerational family drama.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Fire/Fire injury
ruby_07's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25