Jane Slade of Polruan is an account of a family of shipbuilders in a small Cornish village. Their rise in the early nineteenth century and their subsequent downfall during the depression of 1930 parallels the history of so many other family enterprises in Cornwall. At the centre of this activity is the amazing Jane Slade who took control of the family business on her husband's death. She was the only woman shipbuilder in Cornwall and her legacy lived on through successive generations of shipbuilders, repairers and mariners and in the ship named after her.

Fifty years after her death the story of Jane and her family inspired a budding young author Daphne du Maurier to write her first novel 'The Loving Spirit'. Here the facts behind the fiction are related and the real Jane Slade is revealed as she and her family take their place in the history of Cornwall.

The book is illustrated with contemporary prints and photographs; in addition there are new photographs taken by Christian du Maurier Browning, Daphne's son, which capture the magical spirit of the Fowey estuary. Scenes that characters both real and imaginary, knew and loved and are often little changed so that we can see the past all around us. Of considerable interest to both Daphne du Maurier fans, maritime historians and local historians. There is an index of the ships that the Slades built and the many local people who had shares in them. There is a detailed comparison of the fictional characters and their real life counterparts. A previously unpublished letter by Daphne du Maurier is reproduced in full and gives a fascinating insight into the way she wove fact into fiction.

See also the book review at the Leveryas Web Site.