The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier

Ever since I read Rebecca I’ve been half in love with Daphne du Maurier.  I’ve read quite a lot of her work and she’s such a good story-teller!  Recently I was overjoyed to discover that a new collection of her early short stories had been published in May this year.

‘The Doll’ and the other stories included here were almost all written between 1926 and 1932, and were originally published individually in magazines and journals in the UK and America.  This is the first time they have been published as a collection, and some were only rediscovered very recently.

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The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

A strange book this one.  I suppose I’d have to describe it as magical realism with a really brutal kick.  It reminded me of Angela Carter’s novels and fairy tales, which allow the reader to live in two different versions of the same story – one set in the ‘real world’, where the narrator’s or a character’s sanity is called into question, and the other set in a fantastical place where absolutely anything can happen.  What’s great about these types of novels are that you’re never sure who or what to believe, and that is the case with The Gargoyle.