The Breaking Point: Short Stories

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA.

''In this collection, Daphne du Maurier''s peerless craftmanship, her eerie sense of the macabre, her gift for sheer story telling come to full fruition'' KIRKUS REVIEWS

''She wrote exciting plots ... a writer of fearless originality'' PATRICK MCGRATH, GUARDIAN

''The appeal of romance and the clash of highly-charged emotions'' NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE

''The apathy of Sunday lay upon the streets. Houses were closed, withdrawn.

"They don''t know," he thought, "those people inside, how one gesture of mine, now, at this minute, might alter their world. A knock on the door, and someone answers - a woman yawning, an old man in carpet slippers, a child sent by its parents in irritation; and according to what I will, what I decide, their whole future will be decided . . . Sudden murder. Theft. Fire." It was as simple as that.''

In this collection of suspenseful tales in which fantasies, murderous dreams and half-forgotten worlds are exposed, Daphne du Maurier explores the boundaries of reality and imagination. Her characters are caught at those moments when the delicate link between reason and emotion has been stretched to the breaking point. Often chilling, sometimes poignant, these stories display the full range of Daphne du Maurier''s considerable talent.