The book begins 1623 when Honour meets one of the Grenvilles. Gartred Grenville marries Honour's older brother, Kitt, but the rest of Honour's family does not like Gartred. Being only a child, Honour does not understand why. Until Kitt dies, along with his father, from smallpox and Gartred takes her share of Kitt's money and land and runs. Honour does not meet another Grenville until many years later when she meets Richard Grenville, Gartred's brother. He is a big military man who is honest and says whatever comes to his mind. Honour's family, noticing that she has taken a liking to Richard, makes sure that she knows that they don't approve of her behavior. Honour and Richard begin meeting in private and after a while, their feelings grow stronger for each other. Soon, they plan to be married. Before they can be married, Honour has an accident and Richard leaves her. For the next fifteen years, she lives with her servants and never marries. As the English Civil War begins around her, Honour follows news of Richard and how he is becoming a war hero. With the war coming closer to her house, Honour moves in with her sister, Mary Rashleigh, and Mary's husband, John, at Menabilly, the family estate. Soon, she finds that the house has many secrets. Her interest in the house begins with the room next to hers that is supposedly haunted by John's uncle's ghost. With the help of one of Mary's children, Joan, who is also Honour's godchild, Honour gets a set of keys that will open the door to the room next to hers. She is surprised to find it almost empty except for basic furniture and a wall hanging. Still filled with curiosity, they decide to go the other mysterious place at Menabilly - the Summer House - that was also once used by John's uncle. When they get there, Honour goes in by herself, leaving Joan to watch outside. Once there, she finds a well-hidden flagstone that leads to a secret tunnel. She has to leave before she can investigate any more. As she is leaving the Summer House, a small group of soldiers, including Richard, rides up to the house. Once they all get inside, Richard and Honour go upstairs to talk and Richard tells her about his time in the army and his son, Dick. Richard asks Honour to raise Dick as her godchild. She agrees and Richard heads off to war again. Later on, Honour is still thinking about the summer house and thinking about where the tunnel goes. Still curious, she goes back into the room next door and is looking more closely for any clues. While in the room, she gets caught by John, who then decides that he might as well share the secret about his uncle's room. It turns out that Honour was right and the secret tunnel in the Summer house does lead to the room next to hers. His uncle hid silver from the Royalists in the tunnel. John says that the silver is no longer in the tunnel but she must not tell anyone about the secret either. Soon after this, Royalist officers seize the house and everything in it for their soldiers. After many months of occupation, the cattle and crops are by the troops and the house searched for valuables many times, the soldiers finally leave. When they do, they leave Menabilly sad and in horrible shape. Richard returns soon after this with his son, Dick, to come live with Honour. After leaving Dick with Honour, Richard is wounded in battle and Honour travels to rescue him. Richard's reputation grows and Honour travels with him to rally support until he is arrested for failing to obey the King's orders. Richard is sent to prison for treason and losing hope that he will be released, Honour returns to Menabilly. With help, Richard escapes from prison and travels back to Menabilly where he asks Honour to hide him and his son. Richard and Dick hide out in the tunnels until the chance comes for Richard to escape the country. Richard, Dick and Honour must deal with the remainder of the war, family secrets and family expectations as the book finishes. I thought that the King's General was a very gripping and suspenseful book that is full of plot twists. It was hard to follow at the beginning as the author had to introduce a lot of characters in the prologue. I like how the book was written from Honour's point of view and did not switch between multiple character views. I also liked how detailed the author was in her description without taking too much time to describe things. My least favorite part of the book was the length of the prologue but this information was important to understand the main story. I would recommend this book to someone with a higher reading level because the grammar and vocabulary is older and more advanced than many books written today. It is not an action novel even though it includes parts about war. It would also be good for anyone looking for a book that is hard to put down and that you would like to continue well after the last page.
I had had this book on my shelf for quite a long time, bought it in impulse after having read Rebecca three years ago and having fallen in love with Du Maurier's captivating writing style.I didn't seem to find the right moment to plunge into it, even more after the disappointment I had with "The loving spirit", Du Maurier's first novel.Haven't I been losing time by reading far more mediocre books these past years!The King's General is a book which has it all. A haunting castle which reminded me of Manderley quite dearly, a strong and unusual heroine, and a most-of-the-time hated hero. History, love and mystery mix together creating a unique setting for this novel.Honor and Richard, a couple which are never truly together but who remain faithful to each other in their own ways. Honor Harris, the main character, falls in love with Richard, a soldier with dubious reputation, when she is barely eighteen. He is taken with her innocence and the way she looks at life, fair and strong willed in all her actions, Honor takes the best out of Richard.When their life together is about to really start, Honor suffers an accident while horse riding and she is left crippled for the rest of her life, this misfortune making an even much stronger woman of her as she casts Richard away for his own sake, sacrificing her own happiness and getting prepared for a life of solitude, a punishment she is ready to bear, with pride and elegance.What she isn't prepared for is to meet Richard, ten years after the accident, when he has become a key figure in the Civil War fighting for his King, and find her passion for him still alive. And Richard, much corrupted by time and bitterness finds his only calming balm in Honor's sensible reasoning and understanding.Honor becomes then Richard's only and true confidant and plays an important role in the events that take place in Cornwall during the Civil War, taking in all of Richard's flaws with unconditional love and devotion, but always being true to her inner sense of justice. I never thought I could enjoy a book about war and political strategy as much as I did enjoy this one.Expect twists and turns and some lessons during this awesome ride, one you shouldn't miss for the world.Don't wait anymore, go get it and read it on the spot!
What do You think about The King's General (2013)?
I love du Maurier’s writing let me start with that, she is one of my favorite authors however this book fell a little flat for me, it didn’t have the suspense that Rebecca or Jamaica Inn had. As always she captures a time and a place so expertly and the writing is beautiful but for me this just didn’t have the gothic feel and suspense I look for in a du Maurier book.You can also never go wrong when Juliet Stevenson is narrating and the combination of these two is perfection but even Juliet couldn’t keep the book from becoming a little boring in the middle and it never quite recovered.If you are going through a full read through of du Maurier’s books of course don’t skip this one but it’s definitely not in my top 5 du Maurier books. If you like a little more romance than I do maybe you will enjoy this book more than I did so don’t let me scare you off. This wasn’t a bad book it was just not as suspenseful as I had wanted it to be.3 stars
—MissSusie
I read this long ago, when I was a teenager, so do not remember many details of the plot, except that it involved a very unusual love story between a general in the army of King Charles I (English Civil war) and a woman who was a paraplegic. The general, Richard Grenville, was engaged to the woman many years ago, but then she had a terrible accident that paralyzed her from the waist down and refused to see him again (too depressed, didn't want his pity, etc.) When the civil war begins, he ends up at her family estate and their romance resumes. We all know how things went for Charles I so I assume this book didn't have a happy ending, though I don't remember. All I know was there was a marvelous relationship between this man (an arrogant overbearing personality to his troops) and this woman, who despite her handicap, was the only one who could soften him. I really have to re-read it sometime.
—Heidi
It's been many years since I've read anything by Daphne DuMaurier. I had expected the gothic feel to the book but this was much more of a historical title than I had anticipated with very detailed accounts of the English Civil War as it affected those in Cornwall.The main protagonists were unusual and the "hero" incredibly flawed. The relationship between DuMaurier's heroine, Honor, and the ruthless rogue,Richard Grenvile, can only be described as a truly "grand passion." I loved how Honor clearly saw even Richard's ugliest side and loved him foibles and all. The main characters were fabulously drawn. Honor was easy to admire despite her physical limitations or maybe moreso because of them. Although the book dragged a bit during parts of the military campaign, the intrigues and interplay between the various characters made this a page turner.Highly recommended for those interested in the English Civil War
—Emery Lee
