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    The Scapegoat
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    The Scapegoat
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    The Scapegoat
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Scapegoat

    Written by Daphne Du Maurier

    Narrated by Paul Shelley

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "A dazzlingly clever and immensely entertaining novel." --New York Times

    By chance, John and Jean--one English, the other French--meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance to each other is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking - until at last John falls into a drunken stupor. It's to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, Jean has stolen his identity and disappeared. So the Englishman steps into the Frenchman's shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles - as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.

    Gripping and complex, The Scapegoat is a masterful exploration of doubling and identity, and of the dark side of the self.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateDec 16, 2014
    ISBN9781478956341
    Unavailable
    The Scapegoat
    Author

    Daphne Du Maurier

    Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) has been called one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Among her more famous works are The Scapegoat, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, and the short story "The Birds," all of which were subsequently made into films—the latter three directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

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    Reviews for The Scapegoat

    4/5

    311 ratings32 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Strange, compelling little novel about two identical strangers (one of whom, of course, is a scoundrel) who switch lives.
    • 5/5
      The Scapegoat by Daphne DuMaurier1942PS LibraryThis is one f my favorite DuMaurier novels, and I am constantly debating myself about if this book is about impersonation in itself, or through psychological idioms..... Schizophrenia, mid life crisis.........The book begins when John , a wealthy Englishman goes on a holiday trip to France. Here he meets a man who is his double, Jean. They go for a drink but John drinks too much and wakes up in a hotel room, eventually realizing that Jean has disappeared, and so has everything he came with, including is identity documents. John cannot come to any conclusions to convince him of what has happened and ends up being chauffered to Jeans home. He is expected to continue his families business of glass making and shooting parties, things he knows nothing about and has no interest in learning. It soon becomes evident that Jean is using John as his Scapegoat; Jeans family and business are both in shambles and John is left with the messDuMauriers use of suspense and surprise are evident throughout the novel, and her engaging characters are easy to like and follow. Her use of atmosphere, and her ability to make you feel as though you are part of the book make this, as well as most of her novels, a fantastic story.
    • 5/5
      What would you do if you came face to face with yourself? That's what happens to John, an Englishman on holiday in France, when he meets his exact double - a Frenchman called Jean de Gue. John agrees to go for a drink with Jean but falls into a drunken stupor and wakes up in a hotel room to find that Jean has disappeared, taking John's clothes and identity documents with him!When Jean's chauffeur arrives at the hotel, John is unable to convince him of what has happened - and ends up accompanying the chauffeur to Jean de Gue's chateau, where the Frenchman's unsuspecting family assume that he really is Jean de Gue. Naturally, they expect him to continue running the family glass-making business and arranging shooting parties - things that John has absolutely no experience in. Before long, it starts to become obvious that Jean is using John as a scapegoat; Jean's family and business are both in a mess and he wants someone else to have to deal with them.Throughout the book, I was forced to revise my opinions once or twice about what was really going on. If everything in the book is supposed to be taken literally, then we need to suspend belief at times: could two men really be so identical that even their mother, wife and daughter can't tell the difference? There is also another way to interpret the story, one which goes deeper into the psychology of identity - I won't say any more about that here, but if you read the book this theory may occur to you too.As usual, du Maurier's writing is wonderfully atmospheric. She has a way of making you feel as though you're actually there in the hotel room in Le Mans, the grounds of Jean de Gue's estate in the French countryside and Bela's antique shop in the town of Villars.When John first arrives at the de Gue chateau, every member of the household is a stranger to him but we (and John) are given enough clues to gradually figure out who each person is and what their relationship is to Jean de Gue. From the neglected pregnant wife and the hostile elder sister to the resentful younger brother and the religious ten-year-old daughter, every character is well-drawn and memorable.Another thing I love about Daphne du Maurier's writing is her ability to always keep the reader guessing right to the final page (and sometimes afterwards too). This was a fascinating and unusual story, one of my favourite du Maurier books so far.
    • 5/5
      Book Description"Someone jolted my elbow as I drank and said, 'Je vous demande pardon,' and as I moved to give him space he turned and stared at me and I at him, and I realized, with a strange sense of shock and fear and nausea all combined, that his face and voice were known to me too well.I was looking at myself."Two men; one English, the other French; meet by chance in a provincial railway station and are astounded that they are so much alike that they could easily pass for each other. Over the course of a long evening, they talk and drink. It is not until he awakes the next day that John, the Englishman, realizes that he may have spoken too much. His French companion is gone, having stolen his identity. For his part, John has no choice but to take the Frenchman's place as master of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a large and embittered family, and keeper of too many secrets.Loaded with suspense and crackling wit, The Scapegoat tells the double story of the attempts by John, the imposter, to escape detection by the family, servants, and several mistresses of his alter ego, and of his constant and frustrating efforts to unravel the mystery of the enigmatic past that dominates the existence of all who live in the chateau.Hailed by the New York Times as a masterpiece of "artfully compulsive storytelling," The Scapegoat brings us Daphne du Maurier at the very top of her form.My ReviewI have found Daphne du Maurier to be a master storyteller. Her complex characters with engrossing dialogue kept the pages turning until the very end. Her fantastic prose allows you to feel what the characters are feeling and you can immediately imagine that you are in every scene along with the characters. I found the plot to be tension-filled, fascinating and soul searching. I have read Rebecca before and found this one to be just as intriguing. I look forward to reading more of du Maurier's books and highly recommend this one to those who have read Rebecca.
    • 3/5
      An Englishman named John meets a Frenchman name Jean. Jean drugs John, switches clothes and identity and leaves him faced with assuming another man's life. That life is not a happy one with a family business of a glass factory using out of date technology, a son who cheats with his brother's wife while neglecting his own, a sister who he has not spoken to in 15 years plus a mother who he supplies with morphine.John whose own life is meaningless discovers love with this family.
    • 4/5
      John (last name never given) is a British professor specializing in French history on holiday in France and at odds with what to do with his life, as he has no family and feels he is a failure. Then by chance he meets Jean de Gue, who looks exactly like him. The two have dinner and drinks, and then de Gue drugs John, takes all his things, and essentially switches lives with him.The premise is a bit far-fetched, but du Maurier makes it work because essentially this is a psychological novel. de Gue disappears from the scene as the narrator takes over his life, returning to the chateau where his doppelganger is a minor count and lives with his neglected wife, spoiled daughter, morphine-addicted and dominating mother, a brother and sister who seem to hate de Gue, and a sister-in-law he's been having an affair with him. This novel is not so much about improbable doubles as about who we really are and whether it is possible to take off and put on lives, to change ourselves into who we think we should be. As usual, du Maurier's writing is so good that the story becomes very gripping, and even though there isn't a lot of action, I kept wanting to know what would happen to John and the people he so quickly becomes entangled with. The house itself is also a character in the novel and, like the countess, dominates this family, as does their family history, their home village, and the specter of the recent war and occupation. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying, as it does seem to loop back to the beginning and leave things unresolved, especially as we have no idea how the changes John has brought into the de Gue family play out. I personally was hoping for a more romantic ending, but alas. Still, I don't think that detracts much from the overall enjoyment of this story.Theme notes: Clearly, doubles/twins/doppelgangers are a primary theme, and this is an interest of mine. Du Maurier plays with this a lot, emphasizing shadows and reflections, teasing the reader with what is real and what is merely a character's perspective. Every character in the novel, not just the narrator, has a doubled self, depending on who perceives them. Other dominant themes include the weight of the past and escaping it, new starts and resurrections, wiping the slate clean. Could be worth a reread someday.
    • 5/5
      I read this book after three awful classics (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, The Awakening, and Death of a Salesman) so I was especially relieved to find I'd picked up an excellent book worth rereading, finally. In this story, a man assumes another man's identity and swaps him places, and both men get to start fresh with just what the other man had, to make a better life for himself than he was living before, or at least to make the best of what he has available.
    • 4/5
      Now this is a creative writer-- not perhaps an enjoyable book, but certainly not what you'd expect (and it would be interesting to try to write the sequel?) What struck me most of all-- when in doubt, just go ahead and tell the truth.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this story about two men, who look exactly alike, switching places in life and how it affects those around them. It has the same dark, mysterious feeling as "Rebecca" by the same author, and I liked that a lot! I would recommend it :)
    • 2/5
      A pretty good book with a very unsatisfactory ending. John seemed to have learned nothing about himself and Jean would probably continue being an insufferable bastard. What was the point?
    • 5/5
      I love Daphne du Maurier. Even if the premis is a cliche and a bit silly, which this one is, she did such a wondeful job of building and keeping suspense. Her descriptions are lush.
    • 4/5
      what an unusual twist. you just dont know where this story is going and where it might end. I love these unpredictiable books with one surprise after the other. escellent writing. a pleasure to read.
    • 5/5
      Thoroughly ingenious and inventive story of an Englishman, John, who meets his double, a French aristocrat, who decides to let John take over his life. John, when he arrives at the chateau, finds complicated family relationships and a failing family business, a glass foundry. Jean's character is very different from John's, and what begins as a game becomes something much more serious and destructive. [Oct 2004]
    • 4/5
      I bought this a few years ago at a used bookstore. It was a very old paperback copy, but for a while it was out of print, so I picked it up. I first read this in junior high and decided to reread it this month after finishing Rebecca. I got all the way to the end only to discover the final pages were missing!I picked up the book from the library yesterday, so I will soon see what happens in the end.
    • 5/5
      What would you do if you came face to face with yourself? That's what happens to John, an Englishman on holiday in France, when he meets his exact double - a Frenchman called Jean de Gue. John agrees to go for a drink with Jean but falls into a drunken stupor and wakes up in a hotel room to find that Jean has disappeared, taking John's clothes and identity documents with him!When Jean's chauffeur arrives at the hotel, John is unable to convince him of what has happened - and ends up accompanying the chauffeur to Jean de Gue's chateau, where the Frenchman's unsuspecting family assume that he really is Jean de Gue. Naturally, they expect him to continue running the family glass-making business and arranging shooting parties - things that John has absolutely no experience in. Before long, it starts to become obvious that Jean is using John as a scapegoat; Jean's family and business are both in a mess and he wants someone else to have to deal with them.Throughout the book, I was forced to revise my opinions once or twice about what was really going on. If everything in the book is supposed to be taken literally, then we need to suspend belief at times: could two men really be so identical that even their mother, wife and daughter can't tell the difference? There is also another way to interpret the story, one which goes deeper into the psychology of identity - I won't say any more about that here, but if you read the book this theory may occur to you too.As usual, du Maurier's writing is wonderfully atmospheric. She has a way of making you feel as though you're actually there in the hotel room in Le Mans, the grounds of Jean de Gue's estate in the French countryside and Bela's antique shop in the town of Villars.When John first arrives at the de Gue chateau, every member of the household is a stranger to him but we (and John) are given enough clues to gradually figure out who each person is and what their relationship is to Jean de Gue. From the neglected pregnant wife and the hostile elder sister to the resentful younger brother and the religious ten-year-old daughter, every character is well-drawn and memorable.Another thing I love about Daphne du Maurier's writing is her ability to always keep the reader guessing right to the final page (and sometimes afterwards too). This was a fascinating and unusual story, one of my favourite du Maurier books so far.
    • 5/5
      What a fine book to read during Christmas vacation. I'd hurry back home from skiing to sit by the fire and go back to the chateau. Yes, unpredictable and brilliant right to the end, which left me aghast. Nice to come to librarything and see that others had similar experiences with this novel. Now I look forward to indulging in more of Du Maurier's writing!
    • 4/5
      Two strangers, identical in appearance, a chance meeting and lives are forever changed. English John meets French Count Jean and share dinner and drinks as they discuss the remarkable likeness the two share. But Jean's financial problems drive him to render John unconscious, switch identities and leave him in his place to deal with his failing glass factory and fractious family. John soon finds himself in the midst of a mine-field dealing with a pregnant "wife", a couple of mistresses (one of those being his sister-in-law), a "sister" who won't speak to him, a precocious "daughter" and an ailing "mother" with a bad habit. Despite all the pitfalls, John comes to care for this new family and strives to find ways to make the glass factory a success - until a tragedy strikes that brings an unexpected financial windfall to the family's fortunes - but news of that windfalls also brings back...... More than that I'm not telling - you know I'm not into spoilers and book reports. As with all Du Maurier's books her writing and characterizations are subtle and sublime and I'm once again left with an enigmatic ending that kept me guessing just a little bit more.
    • 5/5
      This is my first book by Daphne du Maurier and I loved it! I definitely plan to add more books by this author to my wishlist. Because of the age of this book, I thought the language might be a bit dated. I was surprised to find that it read like a modern book. It was so suspenseful that I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of two men from different countries who look enough alike to switch places. One of them does just that, tricking the other into taking over his life and family in France. The story lured me into the life and emotions of the duped man. Never sure what was coming next, it was almost with trepidation that I turned each page. Any more than that would be a spoiler, but as with all of Daphne Du Maurier's stories, this one ends unexpectedly and causes you to look at the way we see each other a little closer.
    • 4/5
      The story is very involved and meticulously told. Every mannerism, glance and even photograph is imbued with tremendous meaning. Having read a few novels of this era, this seems to be something endemic to the period and not unique to this author. The story is intriguing, if not terribly dramatic. I have a feeling there was an intent to dramatize a grand moral dilemma, but it doesn't really have that punch.
    • 3/5
      Daphne du Maurier is a master of the suspense / thriller novel (without having to use scare tactics to actually frighten you?).

      This novel builds in the usual way. Like a snake that winds itself around you - slowly, gradually, until you're close to the end and you feel like you can't breathe. The premise for this is brilliant - a man meets another man who looks exactly like himself. They have a chat over dinner, have a drink together, one man wakes up and the other man is gone - having taken the first man's identity with him.

      ... woah. Cool, right?

      I love that the house is once again a character in this book - I love that the main protagonist is just thrown into this world he knows nothing about.

      The one thing I didn't like about this book is the ending, and I won't spoil it for you but it just fell a little bit flat for me.

      Overall, it's a solid Daphne du Maurier read and I loved it right up until the last few chapters. c:
    • 4/5
      Would have been five stars (maybe 4.5). Read on for why.

      Slow start and then...wow, did it take off! Du Maurier had such a talent for Gothic fiction, and once again, that talent is showcased here. She just keeps weaving and weaving until the reader can't hardly wait to find out how it ends. The characterization was really good as well. However, I was not happy with the ending. I can only describe my reaction as...a deflated balloon. I was planning to watch the film(s) based on it when I finished, but now I'm not so sure I can take the disappointment again. I know books don't always end the way we like so I would not advise against reading this. It is definitely an excellent read. Just have to keep in mind that endings are not always wrapped up like a pretty bow.

    • 4/5
      It's not fashionable to be a guy and love Daphne du Maurier. She has a reputation for Gothic romance, largely built on her masterful Rebecca, mysterious My Cousin Rachel and unashamedly chick lit Frenchman's Creek. The Scapegoat is an excellent example of why she transcends such categorisation.The plot is simple: two men who look and speak alike bump into each other and swap places. We follow the journey of a depressed British historian replacing an obnoxious French businessman. As the novel evolves, we learn about the history, familial, business and political, which defines the relationships around his new identity. The two men, alike and apart, reflect a duality on the surface as disparate as Jekyll and Hyde but at times eerily aligned.Du Maurier writes in her typically direct style. The protagonist's actions speak for themselves. While dark and psychological, the novel offers little explicit analysis into his motivation. Like My Cousin Rachel, the minimally burdensome onus is on the reader to develop their own opinions.If you enjoy this novel, try also Don't Look Now and Other Stories.
    • 4/5
      Daphne du Maurier's tale of double identities is set in 1950s France, and hinges on how John copes when Jean le Comte steals his identity and forces him to assume the life and personality of an impoverished French country squire. The premiss may sound far-fetched but don't let that put you off, as once again du Maurier deftly and realistically explores how the themes of loss, memory, and identity are challenged by the concept of commitment. The writing is beautiful, and it submerges us in le Comte's unfamiliar and disturbing world. In only a few places did the story feel dated, which again is testament to du Maurier's skill and total expertise as a writer. If this was published today, she would be showered with all manner of literary plaudits, and I am sure that The Scapegoat would be on the final list of the Booker Prize.
      © Koplowitz 2011
    • 4/5
      This is another novel from Daphne Du Maurier that I enjoyed. It was also a novel that worked on several levels for me. I find I cannot discuss this novel without talking about key plot elements so I will hide my comments behind the spoiler mask. If you have not read the novel further reading of this review could damage your enjoyment of it at some future date. You have been warned.On the surface it is an interesting tale of two identical men meeting and who swap identities, albeit unintentionally on the part of one of the men. The novel follows the experiences of the unwilling participant in this exchange as he discovers that he is trapped in the other man’s identity with no proof that he is someone else.In the first chapter of the book this man, an English lecturer in French History who has impeccable French, had been pondering how much of a failure he has been and how he wishes to seek advice in a secluded monastery. He has been feeling that while he loves France and has studied France in detail, he is still an outsider. The exchange changes that, but lumbers him with all the problems faced by his doppelganger.The obvious flaw in the novel is the idea of someone being taken for another person so completely that the other person’s family never suspects that he is someone else. Also suspect is the idea of an English man being taken as French in France.I do not, however, consider this pertinent to the story. We can suspend disbelieve and enjoy the story on face value, and it certainly brings some interesting characters into play and presents wonderfully complex relationships.On another level on could consider the novel as a meditation on an individual taking stock of his/her life and looking at it from another person’s viewpoint. The story shows one of the identical characters fixing many of the family problems of the other in the brief time he is with that family. He also comes to love these people, even though they are flawed and, let’s be honest, downright obnoxious in some cases.I do not think a male writer would get away without criticism today if he created a character like Bela, Jean de Gué’s mistress. She is undemanding, wise and totally available to the Comte. I can see how Du Maurier needed her as a mechanism for the main character to receive some advice from a source that was not at the centre of the family. She provides comparisons between the main character and Monsieur Le Compte whose place he is in.In addition to a great story, Du Maurier has provided a few great quotes from the mouths of her characters. Below I present some of the ones I underlined as I read.”…when war comes to one’s own doorstep, it isn’t tragic and impersonal any longer. It is just an excuse to vomit private hatred.”“There’s nothing wrong,” I said. “It’s just that, as an individual, I’ve failed in life.”“So have we all,” he said, “you, I, all the people here in the station buffet. We are every one of us failures. The secret of life is to recognize the fact early on, and become reconciled. Then it no longer matters.”He smiled at me, still nodding. “Come now,” he said, “it’s not as bad as that. Sometimes it’s a sort of indulgence to think the worst of ourselves. We say, “Now I have reached the bottom of the pit, now I can fall no further,” and it is almost a pleasure to wallow in the darkness. The trouble is, it’s not true. There is no end to the evil in ourselves, just as there is no end to the good. It’s a matter of choice. We struggle to climb, or we struggle to fall. The thing is to discover which way we’re going.”
    • 5/5
      Six-word review: Identity theft transforms lookalike's stale life.Extended review:What is there that fascinates us about the idea of meeting up with our double? Whatever the reason, any number of authors seem to have found the theme irresistible: an unknown actual or virtual twin, a mirror image, a Doppelgänger, a shadow self that no one else can see--in its many variants, it's a commonplace subject in literature. These examples happen to be the first few that sprang to mind:"William Wilson" (1839) - PoeThe Double (1846) - DostoevskyThe Prince and the Pauper (1881) - TwainThe Prisoner of Zenda (1894) - HopeThe Secret Sharer (1909) - ConradDespair (1936) - NabokovThe Likeness (2008) - FrenchI was expecting nothing new when I picked up Daphne du Maurier's 1957 entry in this crowded field. In a familiar enough beginning, circumstances bring the identical pair face to face and then cause one to take the place of the other, sustaining the charade through many tense moments while attempting to master the details and relationships of the absent one's life.But The Scapegoat isn't a simple story of adventure and suspense hinging on mistaken identity, fortuitous maneuvering, and political intrigue. Nor is it, as in the Doppelgänger tales, an exposure of the dark and sometimes twisted secrets of the soul. Rather, I see this story as a fable of atonement and redemption. The title supplies the key: the Biblical scapegoat was literally a goat upon which were cast the sins of the community and which was then driven out into the wilderness as a sacrifice for all. Many mythic and religious traditions contain some version of this idea, the most obvious in Western culture being Jesus, called the Lamb of God.In du Maurier's novel, John the Englishman is not forced to step into the life of the Frenchman Jean, who has absconded with all his personal effects and left him to fend for himself. He makes a conscious choice to attempt and then persist in the impersonation. In the process he discovers the many injuries done by his narcissistic counterpart to those around him, including some deep wrongs long past whose effects poison the present. The story of how John, in the role of Jean, deals with his double's culpability while clinging to his sense of himself as a separate being is a story of the growth of self-awareness, love, responsibility, and the search for meaning in life.A recurring motif is that of windows: looking in, looking out, leaning out, curtains open, curtains drawn, shunning, revealing, enlightening, admitting, excluding. It would not strain interpretation to say that the author uses them symbolically, yet unobtrusively, to underscore how the focal character views, understands, and eventually opens the closed life that is given to him. We are a voyeur of him as voyeur, and when he becomes a participant, we follow and learn.Right up until the suspenseful final pages, I had no idea how this story would end. And yet the conclusion has a satisfying rightness, a symmetry that echoes the symmetry of the beginning. If some questions are left unanswered, those are nothing other than our own answers to our own mystery: given what we know, what do we do now?
    • 5/5
      John is an Englishman who has spent years travelling to France to learn of its history and language, going back to England to teach about his favourite subject at university. One day while on vacation, he chances to meet a man who looks exactly like him, a Frenchman called Jean. The likeness is uncanny and the other man offers him to share some drinks and after a night of drinking in a hotel room, John wakes up the next day dressed in the Frenchman's clothes with the man's suitcase there instead of his own and not a single of his own belongings or identity papers left behind to prove he is anyone else than the Comte Jean de Gué. It becomes amply clear when this man's driver arrives and tells him he's probably had too much to drink after John tries to tell him what has happened that he won't convince anyone that he is not in fact the Comte. His French is perfect, and for some reason, seeing himself wearing the other man's clothes in a mirror he sees the illusion is faultless; he stands a little bit more erect and even finds himself smiling and talking like his doppelgänger, so he decides there is no choice but to go along and play the role he's been stuck with and lets the driver bring him to Jean de Gué's château to meet the family. The other man had told him he yearned to have a simpler life as John had, with less commitments and fewer belongings, while John felt he'd failed at his life, and now was a chance to try something else altogether.Soon John finds himself enmeshed in a complicated web of lies and intrigues, with a grand house full of women, most of whom seems angry at him, though one of them seems more inclined to be friendly, and then there is a great big beastly woman upstairs he is astounded to find looks like himself but in drag with a huge amount of weight added on; Jean's mother, which he can't help but call 'maman' and feel real affection for. Nobody takes him seriously when he tells them outright he is not Jean, but an Englishman called John, and that the real Jean has made off with his clothes and his car; they all dismiss his story as yet another one of Jean's pranks, or a consequence of too much drink. Instead a man angrily demands from him how the trip to Paris went and whether he's gotten the papers signed. Over the course of a week, John slowly untangles the mystery, starting with figuring out who the various individuals are, what Jean was meant to do in Paris, why everyone is angry with him, and then taking a liking to the man's various family members and employees, trying to improve everyone's life. But there is a sudden death in the family, which may or may not be accidental, which means that all at once the family has access to a great fortune which was previously out of reach. And now, the real Jean de Gué—whom John had been sure from what he'd learned, that he had decided to disappear for good—on reading the news of the death in the papers, decides he wants to make the switch again to take advantage of his newfound riches, and threatens to kill John to get him out of the way.There is a certain amount of suspension of disbelief needed here to enjoy this novel as fully as I did. After all, how is it possible that the man's own family, his own mother and daughter not recognize the switch? Can his accent be truly so faultless? Can't they 'see' these are two completely different personalities? But this character-driven story about identity and how one man views another through the eyes of others and then tries to improve him according to his own set of very different values proved to be a fascinating journey for me. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      While traveling in France, John, an English university lecturer, comes face to face with his double. After an evening of drinking and exchanging stories, the English man awakes to find that the French man has gone and taken all of his belongings, leaving him with the French man's clothing and luggage. After a couple of feeble attempts to explain that he is not, in fact, Jean de Gué, he gives in and assumes his double's life. He speaks fluent French, so language isn't a problem. De Gué's family doesn't question his identity, attributing his strange behavior to the effects of a hangover. As John learns more about the “relatives” who share his house, he discovers that the real Jean has hurt each of them in some way, and a crisis looms.I've read other books about doppelgangers, but this one is different. A religious motif predominates, from the devout Catholicism of some of the family members to the title of the book. I usually think of page-turners as being plot driven, but this one is very much character-driven. Just who is Jean de Gué, and what has he done that has led to this crisis? Is John better equipped to avert the crisis as an outsider with no emotional baggage? Is de Gué ever coming back, and if he does, is John prepared to leave?Set near Le Mans, the novel has a strong sense of place. The setting is integral to the plot. Although it wasn't historical fiction at the time of its writing, it will appeal to readers of historical fiction set in post-WWII Europe.
    • 4/5
      From the book jacket - Two men – one English, the other French – meet by chance in a provincial railway station and are astounded that they are so much alike that they could easily pass for each other. Over the course of a long evening, they talk and drink. It is not until he awakes the next day that John, the Englishman, realizes that he may have spoken too much. His French companion is gone, having stolen his identity. For his part, John has no choice but to take the Frenchman’s place – as master of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a large and embittered family, and keeper of too many secrets.

      My reactions
      Du Maurier writes wonderfully complex psychological suspense, and this is a stellar example of her skill. Told almost entirely from John’s point of view we see him go from a depressed professor, to a befuddled (and very hung over) victim of a cruel “practical joke,” to a concerned outsider doing his best to keep things going, and finally to a man who had found new reserves of inner strength.

      The way in which John muddles along as “Jean de Gue” reveals much about his doppelganger. For no matter how badly he behaves, what horribly embarrassing mistakes he makes, how much he hurts (however unintentionally) Jean’s wife, sister-in-law, brother, sister, mother, employees, everyone forgives him because Jean has so charmed them in the past that they overlook his “bad-boy” behavior. But John, not knowing when or if Jean will return, tries to make the best of things. Touched by the loyalty of workers in the family’s glass foundry, he agrees to a contract that will bring financial ruin to the Comte de Gue. Trying to find a way to make amends, John discovers the realities of the family finances. Jean’s wife has a significant trust fund but a modest annual allowance – unless she bears a son or dies before her husband. Francoise is about seven-months pregnant and having a difficult time of it, so John tries his best to be solicitous hoping to hang on until the long-awaited son is born, but this is clearly a troubled marriage.

      That’s not the only difficulty in the household. The dowager countess is a bed-ridden old woman with a somewhat sinister handmaid, Charlotte. Sister Blanche has not spoken to her brother in fifteen years, and is a repressed and bitter woman who spends much time praying at the altar in her room. Brother Paul is an ineffective businessman, saddled with doing his best to manage a business his older brother completely neglects. Paul’s wife Renee is a bored housewife whose sexual yearning for Jean is evident to everyone. Ten-year-old Marie-Noel is a spoiled child who dotes on her father, is jealous of the not-yet-born baby brother, ignores her mother and spies on the household (which at least provides John with information, because the little girl loves to tell her father all the secrets she uncovers).

      The plot is full of twists and turns which kept me interested and intrigued from beginning to end. I had seen a British movie on PBS Masterpiece, but it differs significantly from the book, so my expectations of where the plot was going were quickly proven wrong. Then, just as I thought I had figured out what would happen, du Maurier changed direction on me again. There is no neat solution to the mess Jean de Gue has made of his life, despite how John tries to set things right. The book ends with many questions left for the future.
    • 4/5
      By chance, two men - one English, the other French - meet in a provincial railway station. Their physical resemblance is uncanny, and they spend the next few hours talking and drinking - until at last John, the Englishman, falls into a drunken stupour. It's to be his last carefree moment, for when he wakes, his French companion has stolen his identity and disappeared. So John steps into the Frenchman's shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles - as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.My Thoughts:This wasn’t my favourite book by Daphne du Maurier. My all time favouite is ‘Rebecca’ and I feel that it has lot to live up too. I do love books that have the rambling old houses and the creepy housekeeper. This one doesn’t but there is still a mixed bag of interesting characters.Daphne du Maurier does diverstify with her books. She writes about rambling houses in the likes of ‘Rebecca’then there is time travel in ‘The House on the Strand’, then this book I would say is in the thriller genre.There may be spoiler in this section. I did enjoy the book, I can’t say that I didn’t but there was just something missing. I think it needed to be a bit more sinister. At the end of the book John was going to kill Jean to continue living his life but is actions were stopped. The book for me would have been better at the end if John had killed Jean and then turned John from perhaps the good guy to the bad. Another ending couldhave been that the gun went off and you didn’t know whether it was John or Jean that survived. That just me !However I am glad I reead this book and would highly recommend reading Daphne du Maurier and it will be interesting to watch the new ITV drama of the book.