Du Maurier the Merrier

Watching Rebecca the other evening on TCM reminded me that it is one of the better movie adaptations made from a good book (i.e., one that I like!) and also that Du Maurier was a master of suspense. While The Birds was quite scary when I first saw it as a child--I was only 5 when it came out, which is a rather impressionable age--Du Maurier's short story, read many years later, was absolutely terrifying! Apparently others agree since it's nearly impossible to keep the short story collection from taking wing and leaving the library permanently. But it's one of her lesser-known works, Rule Britannia, which resonated with me.

A satire, which one doesn't ordinarily associate with Du Maurier, that skewers the United States probably was not destined for best seller status in this country, but I laughed and chuckled my way through it (disclaimer: I am an unashamed Anglophile who knows full well that Americans are not universally adored abroad. And often for good reason). But when I went to Amazon to refresh my memory of the book, I discovered that I've obviously forgotten parts of it (another disclaimer: I can't remember squat this days!) So perhaps it's time for me to go pick up the book (it rarely gets checked out) and reread it. Granted, it will have to wait until after I read the latest Miss Zukas installment & prepare to lead the book discussion over Loving Frank by Noancy Horan, but it's something I look forward to. And see if I still feel the same way about it.