Not After Midnight is a collection of five stories by Daphne du Maurier. One of her more famous works is the novel ‘Rebecca’, the film version of which I have watched and liked immensely. Based on that, I had some idea of what to expect from this book: seemingly simple events with a constant underlying presence of something strangely indefinable.
I liked “Don’t Look Now”, the story of John and Laura Baxter in Venice, trying to deal with their daughter’s death. Their chance meeting with a couple of old psychic ladies, and the mysterious little girl in a short coat over her skirt, a pixie hood covering her head, forms the basis of this story. The ‘surprise’ ending however, only partially surprised me.
Similarly, even though I figured out the major twist right at the beginning, I still found “A Border Line Case” very interesting. Following her father’s death, actress Shelagh Money decides to meet with his estranged friend Commander Nick Barry. The meeting offers her - as well as the reader - a fresh perspective on life, while challenging standard categorizations of right and wrong, normal and psychotic.
I really liked the idea of “The Breakthrough” a lot. Stephen Saunders moves to Saxmere to assist James MacLean in what starts off as a normal engineering project, but turns out to be a futuristic experiment of creating energy by trapping the life force at the moment of death. The idea however was not explored enough and the story ended too abruptly.
For me the weakest story was “Not After Midnight”, the tale of schoolmaster Timothy Grey on a vacation in Crete, living in chalet 62, and his encounters with Mr. and Mrs. Stoll of chalet 38, whom he is most welcome to visit any time up to midnight. The story confused me a little and did not have a good enough payoff for its lengthy build-up.
My favourite story was “The Way of the Cross”, the story of seven parishioners on an excursion to Jerusalem. When young Robin suggests a walk to the Garden of Gethsemane to recreate a 2000-year old story, it sets off a series of events that changes their lives forever. They are all going through life, safe in their familiar beliefs, yet through bits of overheard conversations and bizarre accidents, each and every member is forced to rethink life-long beliefs. “Perhaps the soldiers didn’t actually mock Jesus at all. It was just a game, which they let him join in. He might even have thrown dice with them. The crown and the purple robe were just dressing-up. It was the Romans’ idea of fun. I don’t believe when a prisoner is condemned to death the people guarding him are beastly.” What a revolutionary thought! Although set against a religious backdrop, the point of the story was not a religious one; it was about seeing an accepted belief in a new light. Was the relationship of Lady Althea and her husband Colonel Mason as perfect as it seemed? Was Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s honeymoon a sign of things to come? Was Miss Dean really the vicar’s beloved?… For the first time, questions are raised. What is also said is, when your belief structure breaks down, where do you - if at all - find the strength to carry on?
Overall, I liked this collection; it may not have been the best thing I have ever read, but it did have quite a lot of interesting ideas presented well.
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