'Rule Britannia' by Daphne Du Maurier: A Book Review of Sorts
Updated: Sep 30
I really enjoyed reading this. Perhaps it was Du Maurier's 1930s voice in a 1970s setting, or the eccentricity of the writing, of Mad and her boys, Cornwall itself, or perhaps it was the context of today; it might have been painting our current political landscape, and that made me laugh ironically. Quite a few ironic laughs were to be had to be fair, along with shakes of the head in despair at times - such is the uselessness of politics and politicians it seems, and bearing in mind this was written a good fifty years ago. Indeed, the story includes a referendum, coalition government, the withdrawal of Britain from Europe, and along with all that a financial crash, the threat of nuclear war, and a takeover of the UK by a friendly Big Brother that is the US. All of this is set against the peaceful backdrop of a sleepy Cornwall and, but for it having been written fifty and more years ago, I might indeed have been reading tomorrow's papers.
After all, here comes Donald Trump...
And so I did find myself chuckling constantly.
That said, I can see why some people might not like 'Rule Britannia'. Du Maurier's characters are all larger than life caricatures, eccentric beyond reckoning. There is a drama queen (literally), her dresser, a straight-laced, pompous son and six adopted boys (a shout-out to JM Barrie's eternal 'Lost Boys'), and all of them watched over and cared for by a demure granddaughter (there be Wendy). So it is, using this strange family as the central stage, the US 'invade' the UK. Peaceably and by force they come, her troops, ever friendly, meet with the stubborn locals of Cornwall and a close-knit community that was, and still very much is in places, Little England.
And Little England, does not like it!
A nation of shopkeepers, as Napoleon whispered, unites; farmers and doctors together as military might is snubbed and murder committed. But is it truly murder in such circumstance? And of course murder does lead to...
Escalation!
Personally I thought it a great story, quite crazed and typical of Du Maurier's dark mind. I certainly didn't see the end coming until the end, and that's never a bad thing. What one couldn't get past though, despite the crazy setting and characters, is Du Maurier's uncanny reading of the political future. Her mind was always thus. If you fancy an easy read by a classic author, then this is it. Good fun and thought provoking!
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