Scan barcode
A review by girlgotnoidentity
Rule Britannia by Daphne du Maurier
4.0
We throw away things that might harm us- memories, dreams…” –Emma
This is a story of an unconventional family and neighborhood who hangs on to each other during the US take over in London.
I’ve read a lot of book reviews about this novel even before I started reading this, and I saw a number of reviewers that said that this cannot compete to other DuMaurier’s work, specifically Rebecca because this is very basic. To be honest, I cannot agree nor disagree with them because this is my first ever Daphne DuMaurier’s novel (and although I first heard about Rebecca years ago, I haven’t had the chance to read it, hopefully I’ll read it this year!) but I love the way this story was told. Although this is, in a way, a historical fiction and the voice of the novel is serious from the beginning until the end, I still enjoyed my reading process mainly because behind the seriousness of the ideas given by the story, the characters offer a wide variety of perspective coming from the generation before that even the current one can relate very well to. To be honest, there are times that I always look forward to the end of every chapter because I am anticipating that there might be a funny action that might take place, and most of the time it did not fail me.
My favorite character in this novel is, of course, Mad, a woman of 79 (she turns 80 at the end of the story. Her birthday is kind of a combination of happy and sad. You’ll know why after you read this!) and Ben, a young boy. I love the uniqueness of Mad’s character presented in this story, she is strong in spite of her age, and I really admire her tenacity and decision-making all throughout the novel. I can now add her up to my list of my women literary heroes because the characterization of her is just wow. And what I mean with ‘wow’ is that Mad’s character is real yet still unique. (Hope you guys are still getting my point in here). Meanwhile, I also love Ben’s character because I just love this kid. Well, if you will read this novel in this instant, I don’t think I need to justify myself on why I love his character because surely you’ll love him too. But just in case you will not read it this instant, I’ll tell you: Ben is a funny, funny, and very funny kid. His kind of funny is not intimidating or tiring instead it is the kind of fun that either makes you smile wide or laugh hard (you choose your term of preference because I know it’s the same) he’s plain cute, and I’m a sucker for fun and cute characters whatever the genre I’m reading. I really love it when even though the story is on a serious tone, the element of simplicity and lightness is still present because it makes me feel close to the literary piece and its author even more. It feels like the novel is not just a recount of what is happening but of what is really happening. Because to be honest, in real life, even though we all experience darkness and heaviness and sadness, there will always this concept of breathing in and out, and that is what I saw in Ben’s character- he is a breath of fresh air for the novel.
This novel, I can say, is simple yet exciting. It is slow-paced at times but when the events heightened, it heightens. I guess, no one can really go wrong with a classic. 4 out of 5 stars to this.
This is a story of an unconventional family and neighborhood who hangs on to each other during the US take over in London.
I’ve read a lot of book reviews about this novel even before I started reading this, and I saw a number of reviewers that said that this cannot compete to other DuMaurier’s work, specifically Rebecca because this is very basic. To be honest, I cannot agree nor disagree with them because this is my first ever Daphne DuMaurier’s novel (and although I first heard about Rebecca years ago, I haven’t had the chance to read it, hopefully I’ll read it this year!) but I love the way this story was told. Although this is, in a way, a historical fiction and the voice of the novel is serious from the beginning until the end, I still enjoyed my reading process mainly because behind the seriousness of the ideas given by the story, the characters offer a wide variety of perspective coming from the generation before that even the current one can relate very well to. To be honest, there are times that I always look forward to the end of every chapter because I am anticipating that there might be a funny action that might take place, and most of the time it did not fail me.
My favorite character in this novel is, of course, Mad, a woman of 79 (she turns 80 at the end of the story. Her birthday is kind of a combination of happy and sad. You’ll know why after you read this!) and Ben, a young boy. I love the uniqueness of Mad’s character presented in this story, she is strong in spite of her age, and I really admire her tenacity and decision-making all throughout the novel. I can now add her up to my list of my women literary heroes because the characterization of her is just wow. And what I mean with ‘wow’ is that Mad’s character is real yet still unique. (Hope you guys are still getting my point in here). Meanwhile, I also love Ben’s character because I just love this kid. Well, if you will read this novel in this instant, I don’t think I need to justify myself on why I love his character because surely you’ll love him too. But just in case you will not read it this instant, I’ll tell you: Ben is a funny, funny, and very funny kid. His kind of funny is not intimidating or tiring instead it is the kind of fun that either makes you smile wide or laugh hard (you choose your term of preference because I know it’s the same) he’s plain cute, and I’m a sucker for fun and cute characters whatever the genre I’m reading. I really love it when even though the story is on a serious tone, the element of simplicity and lightness is still present because it makes me feel close to the literary piece and its author even more. It feels like the novel is not just a recount of what is happening but of what is really happening. Because to be honest, in real life, even though we all experience darkness and heaviness and sadness, there will always this concept of breathing in and out, and that is what I saw in Ben’s character- he is a breath of fresh air for the novel.
This novel, I can say, is simple yet exciting. It is slow-paced at times but when the events heightened, it heightens. I guess, no one can really go wrong with a classic. 4 out of 5 stars to this.