The Booker and Sunshine Awards

Rosalind Adam and Mina Lobo have both paased the Booker Award to me. I now get to tell you about my favourite books...

This won't be a shock, because I often talk about my favourite books, but here goes...

Pride and Prejudice - Admit it, you didn't expect that one, did you?

Diary by Chuck Palanhuick - It's one of those books I just keep going back and re-reading. A woman is trapped in a loveless marriage, with a child that doesn't seem to like her much, and an overbearing mother-in-law. Seems quite a normal literary situation, doesn't it? But all is not what it seems!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - This is a very happy and uplifting book, which gives a new take on Heaven. At the end, I just felt really happy and uplifted!

The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier - I'm not keen on her novels, but her short stories are divine and beautiful, rich and fulfilling... in fact everything I'd like to be as a writer.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Read it, if you haven't done already... just read it. A great story, a great way of really understanding the plight of Jews during Nazi Germany.

Next Rebecca Bradley has awarded me the Sunshine Award. I've been given this one before, so I'm not going to answer the questions - sorry Rebecca, but thank you for thinking of me. You'll recognise Rebecca's name from my last post, so if you haven't visited her yet, now's your chance!

You'll also notice I haven't, as usual, passed either of these awards on to anyone else. If you'd like to tell me about your favourite books, I'd love to read about them. And everyone deserves the Sunshine Award because your blogs cheer me up. Yes, I'm talking to you right now!

R is for The Rendezvous by Daphne du Maurier

I've never liked Daphne du Maurier's novels. I find them very difficult to get into, and incapable of holding my attention; but her short stories are a completely different matter entirely. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that she's a bit of a master in the art.

Daphne du Maurier on Wikipedia

In the first story of this collection a seemingly happily married woman wakes up one morning and committs suicide. An investigator is brought in by her distraught husband to work out why. This investigator retraces the steps of this woman's life, talking to her old headmaster amongst others, until the tragic tale is told. It probably doesn't follow the 'rules' of how a modern short story would work, but it's a story that holds your attention until the very end - which is surely the point!

In another, a writer's new relationship isn't quite what he'd hoped for, while a fellow writer is getting all the glory.

Other stories hint at the paranormal, implement fantastic twists, or are just perfect enough to stay with you for a long time afterwards.

Why is this in my list - apart from starting with R - I hear you ask? Simply because they are good stories, told well. They are subtle enough that with just one sentence she can turn the whole story on it's head. A true gift. Sometimes I feel that modern short stories are written to shock or confuse; I am often confused by recent short stories, and sometimes I'm not sure what the story is. With du Maurier's short stories, you are under no illusion, and you are enveloped into her rich, imagined world.