The House on the Strand is a book written by Daphne du Maurier. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1969 by Victor Gollancz. The cover of the book includes an illustration created by du Maurier’s daughter, Flavia Tower. A version of the book was also published in the United States by Doubleday.

Like many of du Maurier’s stories, The House on the Strand includes a mysterious or magical element. The story follows a character who can mentally travel back in time and experience past events, but he cannot change them. The book is described as a Gothic tale, meaning it has dark or eerie themes. It is influenced by writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Dante, as well as the psychologist Carl Jung. In the story, a mysterious drink allows the main character to escape his boring married life by visiting 14th-century Cornwall. He becomes deeply interested in the people he meets there, and the two time periods he lives in begin to mix.

The story takes place near Kilmarth, a location where Daphne du Maurier lived from 1967. This area is close to the village of Tywardreath, a name that means “House on the Strand” in the Cornish language.

Plot

The story takes place in an old house in Cornwall named Kilmarth, which is inspired by the house the author recently purchased after her husband passed away.

After leaving his job, the narrator, Dick Young, is offered the chance to stay at Kilmarth by an old friend from university, Magnus Lane, a scientist. Magnus asks Dick to try a drug he secretly created. When Dick takes it for the first time, he can see the world as it was in the early 1300s. He becomes fascinated by the people he meets there and starts to rely on the drug to return to that time repeatedly. Dick follows Roger, a man who lives at Kilmarth and works for Sir Henry Champernoune. Roger secretly admires Isolda, the wife of Sir Oliver Carminowe. Isolda is having an affair with Sir Otto Bodrugan, the brother of Sir Henry’s wife. Otto is attacked and killed by Sir Oliver’s men.

Each time Dick uses the drug, he experiences a key moment from the story of Isolda and Roger. When he returns to the present, he feels more confused and cannot interact with the couple from the past. Trying to speak to them causes him to return to the present in a very tired and sick state. The drug also puts Dick in danger because he walks through the modern world unaware of the risks.

Dick’s wife, Vita, and their two children join him at Kilmarth. They are concerned by his strange behavior. It is clear that Dick does not care deeply for Vita, does not want the new job in the United States she found for him, and does not feel close to his stepsons. This explains his growing desire to escape into the past. Magnus plans to join Dick but is killed in what appears to be an accident or suicide, as he is hit by a train on a local railway track. Dick believes Magnus was under the influence of the drug, making the investigation into his death difficult.

During Dick’s final visit to the past, he tries to protect Isolda from Sir Henry’s angry wife, Joanna, in the 1300s. In reality, he attacks Vita. Vita and her children hide from him, and he seeks help from a doctor to stop using the drug. Dick explains the drug’s effects, and the doctor reveals it is extremely dangerous. However, Dick’s addiction leads him to take the last dose shortly after.

Dick’s final journey takes place during the Black Death in 1349. Roger, who is dying, confesses his love for Isolda and reveals that she died peacefully 13 years earlier after he gave her a drug to end her suffering, rather than letting her endure the same long illness as his mother. After Roger and Isolda from the past die, Dick has no reason to return to the past. There is also no more drug left to help him travel there. At the end of the story, Dick tries to pick up the phone but suddenly cannot grip it. The author, Daphne du Maurier, once said in an interview, “What about the hero of The House on the Strand? What did it mean when he dropped the telephone at the end of the book? I don’t really know, but I rather think he was going to be paralyzed for life. Don’t you?”

Radio versions

• In 1973, BBC Radio Saturday Night Theatre produced a play adapted by Philip Leaver and Kay Patrick, with Ian Richardson as the main actor. Sources include BBC Genome and BBC R4X Hidden Treasures.
• In 2008, BBC Radio 7 presented a twelve-part radio play read by Julian Wadham. This production is documented in BBC Genome.