Rating: 
Summary: High Level Mystery
Review: The author's style can be deceptively simple, yet the book stayed with me long after I finished it. The story is presented with just the right blend of coincidence and will to make it believable, and the premise is wild but hugely enthralling. The ending works from a realistic perspective, fortunately, and makes the tale resonate all the more. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: High Level Mystery
Review: The author's style can be deceptively simple, yet the book stayed with me long after I finished it. The story is presented with just the right blend of coincidence and will to make it believable, and the premise is wild but hugely enthralling. The ending works from a realistic perspective, fortunately, and makes the tale resonate all the more. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: a slow yet totally absorbing read...
Review: The Scapegoat is certainly a very curious novel. Its premise (two physically identical strangers met and change roles) is in no way believable. And Du Maurier's writing style can be described as elegent yet a bit dull. However for some inexplicable reason The Scapegoat is a memorable read; I found myself completely taken in by the story despite its silly premise.To understand why, I think the answer lies beneath the surface of the story. After the two physically identical men switch roles, Du Maurier focuses attention on the lonely, nice professor who is suddenly forced into the role of a French landowner, businessman and ... cruel monster. It's fascinating how he pulls off not only the role reversal but digs into the twisted hearts of the people (spouse, family and friend) around him. I found the emotional, humane side of the story to be most compelling. Bottom line: a ridiculous story made fascinating and memorable by the ever talented Ms. Du Maurier. However I fear the author's style in slowly building the story might turn people away before they reach page 50.
Rating:
Summary: a slow yet totally absorbing read...
Review: The Scapegoat is certainly a very curious novel. Its premise (two physically identical strangers met and change roles) is in no way believable. And Du Maurier's writing style can be described as elegent yet a bit dull. However for some inexplicable reason The Scapegoat is a memorable read; I found myself completely taken in by the story despite its silly premise. To understand why, I think the answer lies beneath the surface of the story. After the two physically identical men switch roles, Du Maurier focuses attention on the lonely, nice professor who is suddenly forced into the role of a French landowner, businessman and ... cruel monster. It's fascinating how he pulls off not only the role reversal but digs into the twisted hearts of the people (spouse, family and friend) around him. I found the emotional, humane side of the story to be most compelling. Bottom line: a ridiculous story made fascinating and memorable by the ever talented Ms. Du Maurier. However I fear the author's style in slowly building the story might turn people away before they reach page 50.
Rating:
Summary: A tantalizing read
Review: The Scapegoat is one of Du Maurier's finest works. Du Maurier has a way of developing her characters with the most thoughful insight. I could not put the book down until I had read it all!
Rating:
Summary: I Was Surprised I Liked It!
Review: The storyline with this one didn't sound too plausible to me, but a friend encouraged me to read it, and I was surprised to find that I actually liked it. Somehow Ms. Du Maurier pulls it off, and with such style!
Rating:
Summary: I Was Surprised I Liked It!
Review: The storyline with this one didn't sound too plausible to me, but a friend encouraged me to read it, and I was surprised to find that I actually liked it. Somehow Ms. Du Maurier pulls it off, and with such style!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant use of language and a fascinating plot
Review: This book is the best I've ever read describing an exchange of roles. If a person were ever to meet their double and change places with them, this is what it would feel like. This book makes it all so real, you would feel like it had happened to you. The writing is superb. Everything is described in minute detail, yet it only adds to the suspense. The author takes common experiences and feelings and describes them perfectly, giving the reader a feeling of having been in that position before. The characters are believable and well-developed. This book draws you into the action. You won't want to put it down once you've begun.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd probably like it better after a second reading
Review: This was a well-written book but it lacked the fantastic eeriness of some of Daphne du Maurier's other works (Rebecca, The House on the Strand, The Flight of the Falcon). The concept was really good - two guys changing places. But this isn't a Prince and the Pauper change with mutual agreement. John is forced into it. For this reason this book is very interesting. Not one person notices the change except for one. I can't really say much about this book because it's been a while since I've read it and it didn't make the same impression on me as some of her other stuff. But it was good and as long as you are n't expecting something spooky to happen, you'll have a great time reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Toil and Trouble
Review: While exploring a theme that is a soap-opera staple, the 'evil twin' scenario that introduces two beings who are so alike one another in appearance that they can conceivably switch places undetected, it is a rare author who can give it an original spin, such as Daphne Du Maurier has done, with a novel written 50 years ago. Du Maurier is easily becoming one of my favorite authors, with her novels of brooding sentiment and sense of foreboding. Her characters here are no less haunted than those of Rebecca, which is, thus far, my favorite of her works, but are haunted in a much more tangible sense. John, the protagonist, encounters his 'twin' on a chance meeting in France. Jean, the 'evildoer' of the two, plies him with alcohol, then leaves him to fend for himself in a hotel room, where he awakens and is instantly taken for Jean. Having no money, none of his own clothes, and no means of doing otherwise, John assumes the life of Jean, the Comte De Gue. Arriving at St. Gilles, John; who muses at the beginning of the novel what it would be like to indeed be a man other than himself, is easily duped into assuming this role, more so than those that he fools with his masquerade. John finds himself intrigued by all the relationships he encounters, with Jean's wife, brother, sister, mother, and child, and a household and glass foundry full of employees. Setting out only to learn about them, he quickly insinuates himself into their lives in a way to undo the years of emotional abuse and suffering that Jean has inflicted upon them, as he grows more and more fond of them all. Each of the characters he encounters has their own spectre to bear; Francoise, the pregnant wife of Jean De Gue, carries a child knowing that her first born prefers Jean over her...Paul, the brother, lives in the shadow of all that Jean is and has done; Blanche, the sister of the Comte De Gue, finds solace in God after the death of her lover fifteen years prior. Even Jean's mother has her own cross to bear, as John discovers later in the story. When tragedy strikes the Chateau of St. Gilles, the inevitable occurs, and Jean returns to reclaim his position as head of the house. While this sudden reappearance was anticipated all along, it still seems a bit 'contrived' to have Jean reappear in the manner he does. But Du Maurier is in fine form as she creates a world for John to enter, as Jean. The family, so disenchanted with him, scarcely pays enough attention to him to notice any differences. The staff caters to him in their usual methods, and carries on in much the same way they always have. Its as if no one particularly cares for Jean enough to notice anything different about him. But fear not, Du Maurier has plenty of surprises to throw in along the way to keep this an intriguing read. The mood is apropos of other of her works, dark and foreboding, gloomy and maudlin....as she weaves her tale of assumed identity, and John becomes the scapegoat for the 'crimes' of the Comte De Gue. An entertaining read from start to finish, I recommend any fan to indulge in this Du Maurier gem.
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