For my Classics Club Spin, I ended up with Daphne du Maurier’s The House on the Strand. I knew nothing about it going into reading the book, except that I’ve enjoyed other du Maurier works and assumed it would probably be a slightly creepy, atmospheric read.

While The House on the Strand has a little less of the horror about it than some of her other books, there is still a sense of creeping dread and the protagonist certainly makes some questionable decisions. The sense of dread increases as you approach the end….

The novel is a first person account of a restless and rather impressionable man, Dick Young, who has come down to Cornwall to his friend Magnus’s house for a holiday.

Dick is in between jobs and is at the house a few days before his new-ish wife, Vita, and two stepsons are due to join him. Magnus has allowed Dick to use his house for free, but mentions that he (a scientist) has an experimental drug that he wants Dick to try. Mangnus assures him that he’s taken the drug himself and it’s perfectly safe. Sounds like steep rent to me.

Dick reluctantly agrees to help and finds himself transported mentally back to 14th century Cornwall following a man called Roger, steward of a local landowner. While Dick can follow and observe, invisibly, any attempt to interact with the 14th century jerks him back into the 20th, nauseated and confused.

As time goes on, Dick becomes more and more fascinated with the 14th century and the people there and less interested in his own life and relationships, which causes a bit of marital strife when Vita shows up a day early and wants to talk about their future.

Both the past and present stories were interesting, and I appreciated the way Dick was characterized and the way he convinces himself that everything is totally under control and he can stop any time he wants to (he just doesn’t want to yet).

I enjoyed this book, though I don’t know if it’s the best du Maurier, and it kept me intrigued to find out what happened in the end. Speaking of the end, I don’t want to spoil it, but I’d be glad to talk about it with you if you have an interpretation.

In a funny turn, I read both this and Blake Crouch’s Recursion back to back, which was more weird time travel than I was expecting at once!

★ ★ ★ ★