daphne du maurier

Arts, Writer Literature

1907 – 1989  

Suggested by Ann Willmore, Ellie MacNeil and others    

Ann writes,
“Many of Daphne du Maurier’s books are timeless masterpieces containing wonderful descriptions and observations of Cornwall. She wrote novels, short stories, biographies and non-fiction including Vanishing Cornwall, which describes her love of the county and her fears for its future. 

Ellie adds,
“Du Maurier wrote amazing, romantic books some of which have put Cornwall on the map. Rebecca is one of my favourite novels ever.” 

From wikipedia:
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Although she is classed as a romantic novelist, a term she deplored, her stories have been described as "moody and resonant" with overtones of the paranormal.
Her bestselling works were not at first taken seriously by critics, but they have since earned an enduring reputation. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel and Jamaica Inn, as well as the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now".
Du Maurier spent much of her life in Cornwall, where most of her works are set.  

Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931.
The novel Rebecca (1938) was du Maurier's most successful work. It was an immediate hit, selling nearly 3 million copies between 1938 and 1965 and has never gone out of print.
Other significant works include Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, Hungry Hill, My Cousin Rachel, The Scapegoat, The House on the Strand, and The King's General.  

The critic Kate Kellaway wrote: "Du Maurier was mistress of calculated irresolution. She did not want to put her readers' minds at rest. She wanted her riddles to persist. She wanted the novels to continue to haunt us beyond their endings.“