Enchanted Cornwall (Du Maurier)

Having enjoyed writing about all of Daphne Du Maurier's Virago Modern classics over on my other blog, I was very excited to discover the existence of another book of hers which I did not know about. Unlike Vanishing Cornwall, it has not been republished by Virago, but having borrowed it from the library I was forced to get my own, second hand from Amazon (don't you just hate it when a free service ends up costing you more money?).

I took it to Cornwall with me, but it was not until last night, after my first day back at work that I got around to looking at it. Filled with wonderful pictures of Cornwall I'm not sure whether it helped or hindered my post-holiday blues!

This is probably a book only for the die-hard Daphne Du Maurier fan, but that certainly describes me. It was written quite a while after DDM had written her last novel and is a mix of autobiographical memories (including how she came to Cornwall the first time) and descriptions of how she came to write each of her books, with very substantial extracts from the titles. It was interesting to revisit these, but in terms of autobiography, you're much better off with a copy of Myself when young. It didn't quite live up to Vanishing Cornwall, and I would recommend you bought that first, but it was still extremely enjoyable and another piece in the jigsaw of Daphne Du Maurier. I found myself contemplating an alternative trip to Fowey and the south of the region as a change from our usual North Cornwall...

As my own copy has yet to arrive, and the library copy has now gone back, I wasn't able to take a picture of the title, so I leave you with one of my holiday snaps that certainly fits the theme - it was taken in Boscastle.