[1][2] The writing of the novel was accompanied by prolific research, in which du Maurier was assisted by Oenone Rashleigh, whose family owned Menabilly, and historian A. L. Rowse, to ensure the historical accuracy of her presentation of the Devon/Cornwall setting at the time of the Civil War.

[1] The historical precision and accuracy made it popular among local people, but the novel's reviews did not praise this aspect, which disappointed du Maurier.

By the time the Civil War breaks out, fifteen years have passed; Honor has grown in independence, moving about on an early model of a wheelchair, and Richard has had three children: Joe, born illegitimately from an affair with a dairymaid; Dick, from a failed marriage; and Dick's sister Elizabeth, who lives with her mother and is not really part of the novel's story.

As is clearly suggested, the bastard Joe - lively and quick witted - is his father's favorite son, preferred over the legitimate Dick.

Following some violence nearby, Honor moves to Menabilly, the home of her sister and brother-in-law, where she again meets Richard, who has been posted to Plymouth as a leader of the King's army in the west of England.

Richard's deep grief at the loss of his beloved bastard son increases the bitterness and jealousy felt by the neglected Dick.

However, this contrast with the extensive and careful historical research, coupled with relatively modern attitudes and manners which are to be found in all her historical novels, can be uncomfortable: as one critic in The Times Literary Supplement claimed, "Though we readily accept that the public events [of The King's General] took place during the Civil War, it is impossible ever to believe the people lived in this period.

"[2] Critics like Horner and Zlosnik claim that rather than creating a conflict, this is actually an interplay, another way in which Du Maurier undermines the tropes of the gothic novel through its combination with the historical romance genre.

Actors included Cathryn Harrison as Honor, Roger Allam as Richard, Carolyn Pickles and Philip Sully.