The Loving Spirit was the first novel of Daphne du Maurier and was published in 1931 by William Heinemann. The book takes its name from a poem by Emily Brontë. Daphne du Maurier began work on the book in October 1929 at Ferryside, the du Mauriers' holiday home in Bodinnick, Cornwall. Ferryside is close to the harbour town of Polruan and opposite Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall.