The King's General
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 First US edition | |
| Author | Daphne du Maurier |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Gothic, Historical romance |
| Publisher | Gollancz (UK) Doubleday (US) |
Publication date | 1946 |
| Publication place | UK |
| Pages | 298 |
The King's General is a Gothic novel, published in 1946, by English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier. The setting is the English Civil War (1642 –1651).
It was the first novel du Maurier wrote while living at Menabilly, the setting for an earlier novel Rebecca, where it is called 'Manderley'.[1][2] The writing of the novel was accompanied by prolific research, in which du Maurier was assisted by Oenone Rashleigh, whose family owned Menabilly, and historian A. L. Rowse, to ensure the historical accuracy of her presentation of the Devon/Cornwall setting at the time of the Civil War.[1] The historical precision and accuracy made it popular among local people, but the novel's reviews did not praise this aspect, which disappointed du Maurier.[2] The inspiration for the novel came from a discovery by William Rashleigh of a skeleton when involved in renovation work on the house. The skeleton was thought to belong to a Cavalier of the Civil War because of its clothing.[1][2]
Plot
The novel is set at the time of the English Civil War. A middle-aged Honor Harris narrates the story of her youth, from the age of ten, when living with her brother Robin. The narrative begins when Kit, Honor's oldest brother, brings home his new bride, Gartred. After only three years, Kit dies of smallpox and Gartred moves away.
At age eighteen, Honor meets Richard Grenville, Gartred's brother. They fall in love and, despite a former arrangement for Honor to marry another, they decide to be married. Honor is injured and loses the use of her legs in a riding accident, when out with Richard and Gartred. Subsequently, Honor refuses to marry – or even see – Richard.
By the time the Civil War breaks out, fifteen years have passed; Honor has grown in independence, moving about on an early model of a wheelchair, and Richard has had three children: Joe, born illegitimately from an affair with a dairymaid; Dick, from a failed marriage; and Dick's sister Elizabeth, who lives with her mother and is not really part of the novel's story. As is clearly suggested, the bastard Joe - lively and quick witted - is his father's favorite son, preferred over the legitimate Dick.
Following some violence nearby, Honor moves to Menabilly, the home of her sister and brother-in-law, where she again meets Richard, who has been posted to Plymouth as a leader of the King's army in the west of England.
During the war, Richard is wounded, and in a reversal of roles, Honor tends to him in his weakness. In the last part of the fighting, Joe is captured and executed by the Parliamentarians. Richard's deep grief at the loss of his beloved bastard son increases the bitterness and jealousy felt by the neglected Dick.
The Parliamentarians take Cornwall, and Richard flees the country but takes part in a Royalist rebellion some years later. He is betrayed: it is suggested that the betrayer is his son Dick. After the revolt fails, an escape plan is made to remove Richard and Dick to safety by crossing to Holland with Richard's daughter (Dick's sister) on board the boat. Rumours of their escape which are told to Honor suggest that only Richard is able to escape: this returns the reader to the inspiration for Du Maurier's tale – the skeleton discovered in the excavations of Menabilly.