Customer Reviews:
 an epic saga of war-torn 17th century Cornwall... December 4, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The King's General is a product of Daphne Du Maurier's love of her native Cornwall, English history, and her superior writing capabilities. She does an excellent job of capturing the feel of 17th century Cornwall in the midst of England's civil war. Even someone like myself with no interest in this particular subject matter found it all to be very readable.
I suppose my only quibble with The King's General has to do with its too many melodramatic episodes. The main element of the story involves two Cornwall families with interwoven romances, feuds, and family traumas. While certainly some of the romantic scenes are, well, romantic. But just as often the scenes seem almost comically contrived. Lots of male and female egos going amuck. At times The King's General felt like a gothic romance novel, ... which probably isn't what the author intended.
Bottom line: despite some over-the-top scenes The King's General is a very worthy read.
 Wonderful September 30, 2001
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
When I first read it, I knew it was not your average Barbie Doll Love Story. Why? Because Gartred, the amazing beauty, was far from beautiful on the inside. And the heroine, Honor, was crippled on her wedding day, just before getting married. She wasn't perfect either, but like she said, she got over her new body, it didn't happen over days, or months, but years. And during that time, the man she loved and was to wed, wed another, for money. She wasn't a saint, she felt jealous and happy that the marriage wasn't well. But it was so real and emotional, and the story was written in first-person giving honest and harsh emotions and understanding to why she loved such a despicable man as Richard Grenvile.
Bittersweet and unforgettable August 24, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a bittersweet love story set against the backdrop of the English civil war... I first read this about 20 years ago. Though I was frustrated with the lack of detail, I was so enthralled by the main characters. I ordered it used from Amazon and re-read it yesterday. I was still enthralled and did not want it to end. I re-read passages from it immediately after I finished!
Elegant and heartbreaking January 30, 2001
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
"The King's General" is a beautiful novel, lovingly written by an author who knows what she's presenting. Set in Cornwall (a trademark of the author), it encompasses the era of the English Civil War by telling the tale through the eyes of Honor Harris, one of fictions's most original heroines.This book was spring water after all of the low grade vintage purple prose I have read lately. Honor is neither beautiful nor rich, but she has strength, gentleness, practicality and wit, all of which serve her better than beauty or money ever could. Her lover, Sir Richard Grenville, is a handsome and proud man who relies on her love and loyalty to get him through the trying times he faces as the commander of Charles I's forces in the West, hence the title. What makes this story so juicy is its spareness. The prose is delicious in its lack of details, much the same as Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" or Jennifer Robeson's "Lady of the Forest" are written. Details are revealed through conversation which might normally be told through description if du Maurier were not so deft with her pen. There is mystery, romance, adventure and comedy within the covers, but it is relayed in such a way as to add to the main story, the sure mark of an author with taste and the ability to draw lifelike characters. And there are such characters to be had: Honor, who is strong and gentle at the same time; Richard, reckless and wild; Gartred, beautiful and calculating; Richard's son Dick, sickly and outcast; and the house of secrets called Menabilly, alone and desolate upon the moor. I came across this book wholly by chance. It is a 1948 paperback that is falling apart, the pages brittle and dog-eared. It is my sincere hope that I will be able to find the story again in a more durable format, but until such time I shall read this lovely novel until it is completely destroyed. I highly recommend "Jamaica Inn" and "Frenchman's Creek" as companion novels to this one. Du Maurier's history-based novels have stood the test of time as classics and I am proud to give this one such a high rating.
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