The Mountains of Instead

Championing fiction as an escape from pandemics, politics and bad TV.

A Pirate's Life for Me (Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier)

Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier is one of my top five favourite books. I have re-read it once a year since I was about 16 which means that I've read it more times than I am willing to admit here. Yet as entranced as I have always been with Rebecca, and Maximilian and the young Mrs. de Winter, I had never been tempted to read anything else by Du Maurier until recently.  What prompted my long overdue interest was an email from Little, Brown who have re-released Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek with some gorgeous new covers and who were wondering if I'd like one to review.  It seemed like the thing to do.  So here we are, part of the Du Maurier blog tour.  I urge you to check out all the stops on this one as, rather than just focussing on one book, it's focussing on several and each one is a classic.  I know this because, having read Frenchman's Creek (thanks to Little, Brown) I sought out and read all three (including Rebecca. Again)....


Goodbye, and Keep Cold (Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black)

The Coldest Girl In Coldtown 
Holly Black 
Little, Brown 2013
"He would hold onto revenge. It would be his fairy story, his lullaby, sung softly by flayed lips. Off-key and deranged."
I hate Twilight. I'm sure most of you agree, I just had to get it out there. I used to ignore it but that c…

Them Young Girls They do Get Wearied (Review: How to Save a Life; Sara Zarr)

How to Save a Life
Sara Zarr
Little, Brown 2012

Jill is angry. Her father, the one person who she felt understood her, is dead and her mother, Robin, queen of the impulsive decision, has decided to adopt a baby.  Having isolated herself from her friends former life, Jill finds herself floundering in h…

Sing, Sing, Sing (Review: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney)

The Mockingbirds Daisy Whitney Little Brown 2010
Alex is a student at the progressive Themis boarding school, a liberal institution whose administration believes that treating it's teenage students like mature adults will encourage them to act likewise (because mature adults are all such paragons …
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