4/26/22

This was du Maurier's first novel, published in 1931 when she was just 24, and epitomises her love of Cornwall. This is a family saga describing the lives of four generations of the Coombe family, from Thomas and Janet, living and raising their family of several sons and daughters in the simple town of Plyn in the 1830s. Time follows through one of their sons, the dark and brooding Joseph, and his son Christopher, who initially rejects the quiet Cornish life for London, and his independent-minded daughter Jennifer who rejects her London family to return to Plyn in the 1920s. The spirit of Janet Coombe dominates the following generations, with her almost incestuous spiritual relationship with her son Joseph, and reverberating down the generations through her representation as the figurehead in an eponymous boat constructed by her family. The sea and sailing is as much of a character as the people throughout the narrative. Much of it is a very evocative and atmospheric, but with a slightly bittersweet feeling throughout, as in other du Maurier novels. A lovely read. ( )

This is impressive for a debut novel. Typical du Maurier Cornish setting. Atypical du Maurier in that it lacked a little with the dark and twisted plot turns. I still really enjoyed it, and Daphne remains my favorite author!!! ( )

Janet Coombe is a victim of her time and gender. She longs to know the wildness and freedom of the sea-faring life, but in Cornwall of the early 1800s, all that Janet may do is marry and raise a family. She ends up marrying her cousin, a staid ship-builder and raising six children with him. Janet is overjoyed when her boy Joseph, fulfills her secret dreams and becomes a sailor, eventually captaining his own ship - a ship built by his brothers - named the Janet Coombe. Through the trials, tribulations and tragedies which strike her family, Janet holds on to her lively and loving spirit and passes that on to the later generations. I really enjoyed this book, Daphne du Maurier's debut novel. I give it an A+! ( )

The Loving Spirit is my church book club’s November selection. All of us remembered reading and loving Rebecca when we were in high school. Well for some of us that was 30-50 years ago! So we were really excited about reading her very first novel, The Loving Spirit. I am afraid from early discussions, the consensus is that this book is just weird. There are some good things about it, but the first of the book is just creepy, and that is creepy-bad not creepy-good. Not sure if it is just our modern outlook on things as opposed to the worldview of the 1930s. So I’ll hit the good and then share the bad.

First the story – Janet is a free spirit, longing to have adventures and sail the seas, but as a young woman in the 1830s she must settle for life as a wife and mother. She loves her husband and children, but the deep spiritual connection with her son, Joseph, keeps her dreams alive. The book spans the lives of four generations of Janet’s family – her son Joseph, grandson Christopher and great-granddaughter Jennifer. The restlessness found in Janet is repeated through the generations causing personal and relationship problems for all the characters. There is also a strand of betrayal and bitter hatred that Janet’s son Phillip brings to the story.

Good points — multi-generational saga, well-developed characters, good look at the struggles women faced from 1830s to 1930s, indictment of Victorian manners. Beautiful prose, interesting story. Amazing that this complex novel was written when du Maurier was just 24.

Bad points — creepy relationship between Janet and her son, Joseph. The relationship bordered on the incestuous, at least from a 21st century perspective. Spiritual ambiguity — existence of God, existence of eternal justice. Amorality and situational ethics.

Now to be fair, this novel is purely secular and the worldview does not line up with the traditional Christian worldview. I expect a good amount of discussion from our group, which is really what we are looking for. ( )