La pomera i altres contes

A woman bitter and despised by her husband who returns in the form of an old, crooked apple tree to chase him after she dies, a mysterious girl obsessed with seducing soldiers, a couple of mountaineers discovering a strange cult on top of a mountain or l 'enigma of a suicide committed for no apparent reason are some of the stories included in this splendid collection of tales. Many of these stories are x-rays of the less idyllic corner of marriage, of women trapped in lives that do not satisfy them and that do not conform to what the society of their time imposes on them. Daphne du Maurier was a great writer of suspense literature, with a unique ability to create plots of intrigue, even psychological terror, from everyday relationships. His complicity with Alfred Hitchcock led to some of his works being made into films, such as The Birds, one of the stories included here, or the novel Rebecca, both films directed by him. Disturbing, full of humanity and with spooky touches, the stories of The Apple Tree and other tales are surprisingly modern and shocking.