** spoiler alert ** I have a lot of thoughts about this book. It was engaging and funny and bittersweet, and truly felt like your classic adventure story. When it comes to the protagonist, I don’t know how I feel about her. On one hand I empathize with her and the lack of contentment she feels in her life, surrounded by fake people and having a husband who she can’t seem to love. But on the other hand, she neglects her family and ultimately betrays them. And yet she’s so quick witted and clever that you can’t help but like her at parts. Then again that’s the genius of Du Maurier’s writing- we’re never given flat, one-dimensional characters to read about, we’re given their good and bad sides and left to decide for ourselves how they rank in our esteem. If anything, I think I rooted for the Frenchman and William throughout more than Dona, and I lacked sympathy for what she endures in the book simply because she put herself in those situations. I think when it comes to Dona, I’ll never be able to decide whether I like her or not- after all, she was unfaithful and still viewed herself as the victim of harsh circumstances despite her other advantages. But ultimately she returns to her family, even though she longed to joined the Frenchman, and there’s something to be said for that action in her favour. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the twists and turns that kept me up until 1 am reading, and I’ll likely read it again one day!

Read for my 'Acceptable' N.E.W.T in Potions 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - Read your friends favourite book. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. I've read all four of du Maurier's most famous novels now and I really didn't think that Frenchman's Creek would end up being my favourite out of Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel & Jamaica Inn. I seem to have the opposite opinion to most people with Jamaica Inn and Frenchamn's Creek being my top two of the four. All in all this is a simple tale about a woman wanting more out of life. Who doesn't want an adventure of a lifetime?

In fact, William, I propose to behave outrageously. I loved this book: pirates, seafaring, cleverness, romantic tension, a scandalous woman challenging the constraints of her gender, and skilled, sensuous descriptions of landscape and scene. What more could you ask for, really? After reading My Cousin Rachel, I expected flashes of incisive insight from Frenchman's Creek, and was not disappointed: No, to be really free, a man must sail alone. This other self knew that life need not be bitter, nor worthless, nor bounded by a narrow casement, but could be limitless, infinite. What I did not expect, though, was the humor in this book. I was continually caught off guard by how funny it was. The dialogue is brilliant, and there is a particular exchange between Dona (the scandalous woman) and the prudish Lord Godolphin, that kept me giggling: As this fellow is a Frenchman we all realize that it is only a question of time before something dastardly occurs. "If you came face to face with a pirate I dare swear you would shiver and swoon, like the rest of your sex." "I would certainly shiver." I've only recently begun reading Daphne du Maurier (thanks Ben!), and I've discovered after My Cousin Rachel and Frenchman's Creek that she is an author I will want to read a lot of.