Cornish ambiance; two new Mormon missionaries; their predecessors, the raccoon killers; I join a reading group

Well, I finished reading Rebecca. The last hundred or so pages were very thrilling. Then I read the back matter: (i) an essay by Daphne du Maurier about how she wrote the novel; (ii) an essay about Menabilly, the real-life “Manderlay” (where du Maurier later resided); and (iii) a disused draft of the epilogue (it sucked so badly, I tore it out of the book).

Cornwall must be one of the best English counties in which to set a Gothic novel. It has the requisite desolation. Fittingly, Aphex Twin is the best-selling musician to hail from that county.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Two new Mormon missionaries have moved in downstairs. Today, they made the rounds in our building, knocking on doors and introducing themselves. When they came to our apartment, I told them that I knew a great deal about missionary life; that Karin & I’d honeymooned in Utah; and that their predecessors, Elders Henderson and Parker, had neglected us, except to skin a raccoon under our window. (Yes, we now know that they did it: they fashioned the tail into an ornament for their car.)

I agreed to discuss the Book of Mormon with the new young “elders.” This, at last, will spur me to read it.