Daphne DU MAURIER : The doll

'I want to know if men realise when they are insane. Sometimes I think that my brain cannot hold together, it is filled with too much horror - too much despair ... I cannot sleep, I cannot close my eyes without seeing his damned face. If only it had been a dream.' 
In 'The Doll', a waterlogged notebook washes ashore, its pages telling a dark story of obsession and jealousy.
Many of the stories in this chilling collection were written early in Daphne du Maurier's career, before she wrote the masterpieces that would cement her reputation as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers: Rebecca, 'The Birds' and 'Don't Look Now'. These thirteen tales of human frailty and obsession demonstrate du Maurier's extraordinary storytelling ability and her deep understanding of human nature.

Usually, when you pick a book of short stories, there are a few stories you really love, others that are good, others that you don't care about. What struck me about these short stories is that I loved them all ! Well, maybe not adored Mazie's first appearance - not that I didn't like it, just that this kind of story had been told before, though I loved the narrative. Until I got to the second Mazie story, that was so poignant I still feel bad for her. A third story and what would she have become ?...

Anyway, back to the point : I was surprised at how much I was captivated by those stories. They were written by Daphne du Maurier when she was very young (except the last one in my edition, The limpet, that was awesome), but let me tell you she already had an amazing talent back then ! I loved her sense of humour, I really laughed several times. I found her creepiness disturbing (yes, some stories were creepy, especially when you think about her and her father/mother). I loved how she could make us dive so very quickly into a situation with well drawn characters. The one about the hidden house in the woods was... eerie ? Prophetic ? Like she knew she would find Menabilly one day ? 

There has never been a book of short stories that I annotated so much before. As I said, I didn't expect to be absorbed by it as much as I was and can only recommend it, very strongly, to you !