THE GLASS BLOWERS

by Daphne Maurier ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 22, 1963

In 1954 Daphne du Maurier built a novel entitled Mary Anne around her great-great-grandmother; earlier she had written two unforgettable biographies, one of her father Gerald, the other titled simply The du Mauriers. Now comes another panel in the family history, done in fictional form, The Glass Blower, a story that reaches back to France of the Revolution and England as seen through the experiences of one du Maurier ancestor, a refugee, and pretty much of a blot on the scutcheon, but a colorful figure in spite of his questionable ethical principles. She dedicates her book ""To my forebears"" the master glass-blowers of La Brulonnerie, Cherigny, La Pierre and the Chesne-Bidault"". And she tells the story as a principal in the drama, Sophie Duval, tells the story of Robert, her errant brother, for the English-born nephew, his son. The plot thread is thin, despite its multiple factors and characters; but the setting provides as lively and vivid and original a picture of rural France under the Terror, as this reader has chanced to encounter. Violence, tragedy, high drama- all are here, but one never loses the awareness that the novelist is, perhaps, hampered by the historian and biographer in the telling. Daphne du Maurier's name is a certificate for a substantial sale; the ultimate result may well be below her peak.

Pub Date: March 22, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1963

Categories: FICTION