The Loving Spirit (Virago Modern Classics)

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At the end of the book, when the plot left Janet&Joseph behind, I breathed more easily. The characters who became central were tolerable (but still not great) and their story okay, if overly sentimental. Still, none of it was remotely enough to budge the feeling of the utter disaster that was everything else in this book. From the original review in the Province Sun, November 1, 1931: Rebecca West, in her criticism of this book, describes it as “a whopper of a romantic novel in the vein of Emily Brontë.” That it is. It is also in the vein of George du Maurier, grandfather of the authoress; it’s also a legitimate descendant of Peter Ibbetson.

Pues me ha gustado mucho quizá porque no iba con las expectativas muy altas por ser la primera novela de la autora.

A 1931 review of The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier

Roberts M. The loving spirit. In: Taylor H, editor. The Daphne du Maurier companion. London: Virago; 2007. p. 133–8.

It feels almost ironic that The Loving Spirit is indeed set on the coasts of Cornwall, as that is also a place that I love to spend time at. It has been a few years, but this book has given me the reminder and incentive to return. Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc. Cornwall, 1900s. Plyn Boat Yard is a hive of activity, and Janet Coombe longs to share in the excitement of seafaring: to travel, to have adventures, to know freedom. But constrained by the times, instead she marries her cousin Thomas, a boat builder, and settles down to raise a family. Taylor H. Introduction. In: Taylor H, editor. The Daphne du Maurier companion. London: Virago; 2007. p. xii–xxiv. Fowey was a busy port at this time and Joseph serves his time on board a sea trading vessel. In time Joseph earns his master certificate and the family agree to build their own ship and name it the “Janet Coombe” which Joseph then captains. Tragedy strikes when Janet, who has a weak heart, passes away on the day of the ship launch.She longed for the other one to be with her tonight, he who was part of her with his dark hair and his dark eyes so like her own' She knew that his thoughts and his soul were with her, but these were not enough for her pitiful human wants. She cursed the weakness of her flesh that hungered for his nearness and his touch, she fought against the demand of her eyes to dwell upon him. To touch his hands and his body that was part of herself, to smell the familiar scent of sea and earth and sun that clung to his clothes, to taste the salt spray that washed from his skin, all these she claimed; but they were taken from her, leaving her half-asleep and a shadow of a woman. Muchos de los personajes, sobre todo los secundarios, están perfilados solamente a grandes rasgos, sin profundizar demasiado en sus personalidades pero en conjunto nos hacemos bien a la idea de cómo son cada uno de los componentes de esta saga familiar y nos centramos sobre todo en 4 de ellos, 2 hombres y 2 mujeres de sucesivas generaciones. The child destined to be a writer is vulnerable to every wind that blows. Now warm, now chill, next joyous, then despairing, the essence of his nature is to escape the atmosphere about him, no matter how stable, even loving. No ties, no binding chains, save those he forges for himself. The Loving Spirit è il suo primo romanzo (1931), storia di una famiglia di piccoli armatori della Cornovaglia, tra i picchi e le scogliere dell'immaginaria Plyn, le cui vicende abbracciano dal 1830 al 1930 l'arco di quattro generazioni.