The Flight of the Falcon (1965)

by Daphne du Maurier

The death of an old woman on the streets of Rome causes a young man whose family was torn asunder by the chaos of WWII to return to the town of his birth, where his older brother, long thought dead, seems to be using his power and influence to inflame the passions of the local youth in a misguided effort to reenact a traumatic event from medieval times.

 

Daphne du Maurier’s novel is beautifully written and benefits greatly from insightful psychological portraits of its characters and a magnificent evocation of Italy in the 60s.

 

Daphne du Maurier

However, this book is also a thriller, and when I blind myself to its strengths, I find that du Maurier depends upon wild coincidence at almost every turn to move the plot forward.

 

This prevents it from being entirely satisfying.

"The Mystery of the Falcon" (German)

"Flight of the Falcon" (Danish)

"Flight of the Hawk" (Finnish)

"The Flight of the Falcon" (Italian)

"Flight of the Falcon" (Swedish)

"The Falcon's Flight" (Portuguese)

"The Flight of the Falcon" (Dutch)

"Flight of the Falcon" (Czech)

"Falcon Run" (Latvian)

"The Flight of the Falcon" (French)

"Falcon Flight" (Russian)

"The Flight of the Falcon" (Persian)