Each story in The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier explores a different human emotion. Narrated by Edward de Souza, this Audible Exclusive has something that will appeal to any mood....

Daphne du Maurier's The Scapegoat is a classic tale of stolen identity. As dark as it is witty, it introduces listeners to the gloomy and despondent character of John the Englishman. When by chance, John comes face to face with his French doppelgänger, Jean, his bewilderment is quickly replaced with envy. Realising that Jean is in possession of everything he lacks but has always desired, he assumes the identity of his look-a-like, leaving his old, tedious life behind.

When the skeleton of a young cavalier was found by William Rashleigh at Daphne du Maurier's beloved mansion, Menabilly, she once again found inspiration in her surroundings. Putting pen to paper, Daphne created The King's General, a historical tale which takes place during the English Civil War and introduces one of du Maurier's greatest heroines: Honor Harris. Honor is a beautiful, brave and kind protagonist, a true embodiment of the name by which she goes.

Armino Fabbio is a simple Italian courier until an old woman is murdered. He discovers that the woman was his family’s servant a long time ago and returns to his family home in Ruffano to investigate. However, his return home isn’t a happy one as he discovers that his birthplace is haunted by the ghost of his brother. The spectre of a sinister Duke, otherwise known as ‘The Falcon’ also resides in the house. But as dark family secrets and history begin to resurface, how will a small-time businessman cope, and what will he learn? 

The Brodricks of Clonmere gain great wealth by harnessing the power of Hungry Hill and extracting the treasure it holds. The Donovans, the original owners of Clonmere Castle, resent the Brodricks' success, and consider the great house and its surrounding land theirs by rights. For generations the feud between the families has simmered, always threatening to break into violence...

Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters: his fiancée Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions; and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham's novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.

The four seasons of the Wessex year form the backdrop for the delightful romance of Dick Dewy and Fancy Day. The ups and downs of their courtship are set alongside the story of the rustics who form the church choir.

With talented parents comes the burden of continuing the line of accomplishment, as Maria, Niall and Celia know all too well. The siblings subsequently formed a bond so profound that their lives constantly have a tremendous impact on those around them, this includes Maria’s husband, Charles - a gentleman who has been sucked into the parasitic world of the Delaney’s. 

Seeking peace of mind, Lady Donna de Colomb flees the stews of London and the Restoration court for remote Navaron. There she finds the boundless passion her spirit craves - daring to love the pirate hunted by all Cornwall.

This is the story of a young country workman obsessed by his ambition to become an Oxford student, interwoven with his fraught relationships with two women.

Julius is a bleak and disturbing tale of one man’s unstoppable rise to the top and the shocking events that ensure he gets there. A dark twist on the typical rags-to-riches storyline, Julius follows the life of a young and ambitious French peasant (Julius Lévy) from his squalid life on the banks of the Seine to the vast majesty and wonders of London. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Julius is forced to flee for Algeria, where he soon learns the art of deception. Here, the listener is provided a glimpse into the mind of one of the most unlikable characters in literature. 

Joseph and Harriet Blackstone emigrate from Norfolk to New Zealand in search of new beginnings and prosperity. But the harsh land near Christchurch where they settle threatens to destroy them almost before they begin. When Joseph finds gold in the creek he is seized by a rapturous obsession with the voluptuous riches awaiting him deep in the earth.

Scobie, a police officer in a West African colony, is a good and honest man. But when he falls in love, he is forced into a betrayal of everything that he has ever believed in, and his struggle to maintain the happiness of two women destroys him.

First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.

Jamaica Inn stands alone on Bodmin Moor, stark and forbidding, its walls tainted with corruption. Young Mary Yellon soon learns of her uncle Joss Merlyn's strange trade here. But does he deal in blacker secrets still?