VANISHING CORNWALL

Cornwall, England...with its legends of Arthur and Tristan, its intimations of Crete, its history and tales, its trades and peoples...its perpetual spring...a likely subject for Miss du Maurier's romance. Actually: a soldier piloted his boat, made a secret assignation, courted and married her—and they live now in Cornwall. In letters: here. Miss du Maurier is quick to the scent of history, myth ("There is no fever like the quest for the past") and at her best when tale- telling (the legend of Penrose, the Cornish eccentrics). She writes too of moor and port, of gentry and tinners, of fishermen and fair traders (or smugglers), of religion and superstition, and follies. The climate of sentiment prevails, misty...for an acknowledged audience to enjoy.