A review by jenmcmaynes
I'll Never Be Young Again by Daphne du Maurier

3.0

Knowing that this was just du Maurier's second book, written in her early 20s, helped considerably in reading it. This is no Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel; it is, at times, very clunky and overly earnest. Despite this, though, her slightly melodramatic portrait of Richard's coming of age - from an attempted suicide on a London bridge to working on a freight to first love and tragedy and the writing life in Paris - rings true. Richard is terribly unlikeable - he is needy and selfish and treats Hesta horribly - and I wanted to smack him upside the head. Which is a pretty impressive bit of writing for such a young writer. :) And by the end, I was rooting for him, hoping he would finally just grow up... which he does... eventually. I wouldn't recommend I'll Never Be Young Again to anybody who wasn't already a fan of du Maurier's, but for those who already enjoy her, it is worth the read.