The Loving Spirit

It all begins in Plyn, Cornwall, 1830. Janet Coombe is a free spirit. Sometimes she feels she should have been a boy. She loves boats and the sea, and dreams of being a traveler and adventurer. A perfect day for her entails running about the countryside with her skirt hiked up to her knees. But since she is born female, things are expected from her. So she marries her cousin Thomas, a boat builder, and gives him children and marital contentment. But as he becomes involved in his family business, Janet begins to wonder if this is all there is to life. She passes her spirited ways on to her son Joseph, and amid family drama, tragedies, changes and some suspense, it is Joseph's granddaughter Jennifer who, with her own free spirit, intends to mend everything and live the life that was once meant for Janet Coombe. Janet Coombe seems to be the fictionalized version of Daphne du Maurier. In various autobiographies, Du Maurier often said that she wished she had been born a boy, that she'd always been a tomboy and that she lived her fantasies through her male narrators in various novels. This is her first novel, and probably her most autobiographical effort. The Loving Spirit has a wonderful beginning. It kept me turning the pages because the writing is lyrical and sublime, and it engaged me with little effort. It does get a bit tedious somewhere in the middle, and it took me a while to read it at that point. It does, however, pick up when Jennifer's story comes in. It is, in fact, the best part of the novel and I couldn't put it down. Daphne du Maurier is one of my favorite novelists. She wrote a little bit of everything, took risks that paid off. This is a wonderful look at her writing during its beginner state. I have to say this debut is better than most books written by today's experienced authors. And that speaks volumes about today's commercial fiction.

The Loving Spirit is the most underated novel by Daphne Du Maurier. In her first published novel Daphne's characters, especially the women, are multidimensional with many desires, the strongest being to follow their heart and remain true to their spirit. With four generations of family, each character gets closer to the truth and living a life that fulfills their inner needs and that of their soul. Rich in romance, wit, adventure and also very much a spiritual book, even for it's time period, The Loving Spirit should be read by all DuMaurier fans and those wanting to change their paths in life and look within themselves.