The Loving Spirit
The Loving Spirit was the first novel of Daphne du Maurier and was published in 1931 by William Heinemann. The book takes its name from a line in the poem "Self-Interrogation" by Emily Brontë. Daphne du Maurier began work on the book in October 1929 at Ferryside, the du Maurier's holiday home in Bodinnick, Cornwall. Ferryside is close to the harbour town of Polruan and opposite Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall. Synopsis The novel tells the story of the Coombe family over four generations starting with Janet Coombe, Joseph Coombe, Christopher Coombe and Jennifer Coombe. The book is based on real events and places, but names are changed and Plyn is an amalgam of Fowey and Polruan and the Slade family name becomes Coombe. The novel introduces Janet as a young woman who marries Thomas Coombe a ship builder in Plyn. They have several children and the boys follow their father into the family business with the exception of Philip who becomes a clerk at the local shipping office and Joseph, who like Janet, longs to go to sea. Philip features in all chapters of the book and is portrayed as a dark force, withdrawn and distant from