Daphne Du Maurier Popular Books

Daphne Du Maurier Biography & Facts

Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist. Although du Maurier is classed as a romantic novelist, 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 for narrative craft. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel and Jamaica Inn, and 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. As her fame increased, she became more reclusive. Life Early life Daphne du Maurier was born at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel Beaumont. Her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby. Her paternal uncle Guy du Maurier was a playwright. Her mother was a paternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, became an actor and later also a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne du Maurier was a painter. She was a cousin of the Llewelyn Davies boys, who were J. M. Barrie's inspiration for the characters in the play Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. She was also a cousin of director Gabrielle Beaumont.As a child, du Maurier met many prominent theatre actors, because of the celebrity of her father. On meeting Tallulah Bankhead, du Maurier was quoted as saying that Bankhead was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.Du Maurier spent her childhood at Cannon Hall, Hampstead, the family's London residence, and summers at their home in Fowey, Cornwall, where they also lived during the war years. Personal life Du Maurier married Major (later Lieutenant-General) Frederick "Boy" Browning in 1932. They had three children: Tessa (b. 1933), who married Major Peter Paul John de Zulueta. After they divorced, she married David Montgomery, 2nd Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, in 1970. Flavia (b. 1937), who married Captain Alastair Tower. After they divorced, she married General Sir Peter Leng. Christian (b. 1940), a photographer and filmmaker. He married Olive White (Miss Ireland 1961).Biographers have noted that du Maurier's marriage was at times somewhat chilly and that she could be aloof and distant to her children, especially the girls, when immersed in her writing. Her husband died in 1965 and soon afterward Daphne moved to Kilmarth, near Par, Cornwall, which became the setting for The House on the Strand. Du Maurier has often been painted as a frostily private recluse who rarely mixed in society or gave interviews. An exception to this came after the release of the film A Bridge Too Far, in which her late husband was portrayed in a less-than-flattering light. Incensed, she wrote to the national newspapers, decrying what she considered unforgivable treatment. In private, many remembered her as a warm and immensely funny person who was a welcoming hostess to guests at Menabilly, the house that she had leased for many years, from the Rashleigh family in Cornwall. She appeared as a castaway in the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs broadcast on 3 September 1977. Her chosen book was The Collected Works of Jane Austen, and her luxury was whisky and ginger ale.Du Maurier was an early member of Mebyon Kernow, a Cornish nationalist party.She was known as Daphne du Maurier from 1907 to 1932, when she married Frederick Browning. Still writing as Daphne du Maurier during her marriage, she was also known as Lady Browning after her husband was knighted in 1946. When she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1969, she was titled Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, DBE, but she never used the title. According to her biographer Margaret Forster, she told no one about the honour, so that even her children learned of it only from the newspapers. "She thought of pleading illness for the investiture, until her children insisted it would be a great day for the older grandchildren. So she went through with it, though she slipped out quietly afterwards to avoid the attention of the press." Alleged relationships After du Maurier's death in 1989, some writers speculated about her alleged relationships with a number of women, including the actress Gertrude Lawrence and Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her U.S. publisher Nelson Doubleday. Du Maurier stated in her memoirs that her father had wanted a son; being a tomboy, she wished to have been born a boy. The Daphne du Maurier Companion, edited by Helen Taylor, includes Taylor's claims that du Maurier confessed to her in 1965 that she had had an incestuous relationship with her father and that he had been a violent alcoholic.In correspondence that her family released to biographer Margaret Forster, du Maurier explained to a trusted few people her own unique slant on her sexuality: her personality comprised two distinct people – the loving wife and mother (the side she showed to the world); and the lover (a "decidedly male energy") hidden from virtually everyone and the power behind her artistic creativity. According to Forster's biography, du Maurier believed the "male energy" propelled her writing. Forster wrote that du Maurier's "denial" of her bisexuality unveiled a "homophobic" fear of her true nature.The children of both du Maurier and Lawrence have objected strongly to the stories about their mothers' alleged intimate relationship. Two years after Lawrence died, a biography of her authored by her widower, Richard Aldrich, went into detail about a friendship between her and du Maurier that had begun in 1948 when Lawrence had accepted the lead role in du Maurier's new play September Tide. Aldrich said that Lawrence had toured Britain in the play in 1948 and continued with it in London's West End theatre district through 1949, and that later du Maurier visited them at their home in the United States. Aldrich made no mention of a possible same-sex relationship. Death Du Maurier died from heart failure in her sleep on 19 April 1989, aged 81, at her home in Par, Cornwall, which had been the setting for many of her books. Her body was cremated in private and without a memorial service (at her request) and her ashes scattered off the cliffs around Kilmarth and Menabilly, Cornwall. Writing career Novels, short stories, and biographies Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in her great uncle Comyns Beaumont's Bystander magazine. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published.... Discover the Daphne Du Maurier popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Daphne Du Maurier books.

Best Seller Daphne Du Maurier Books of 2024

  • Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure synopsis, comments

    Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

    John Cleland & Peter Wagner

    Forced by the death of her parents to seek her fortune in London, Fanny Hill is duped into prostitution by an old procuress. In Mrs Brown's bawdyhouse the naïve young woman begins ...

  • The Blackstone Key synopsis, comments

    The Blackstone Key

    Rose Melikan

    Charlotte Bronte meets Agatha Christie in this wonderful historical adventure novel set in the 18th century about a penniless but clever young teacher who becomes embroiled in a pl...

  • The Swiss Family Robinson synopsis, comments

    The Swiss Family Robinson

    J. D. Wyss

    Following a wild and raging storm, the Swiss family Robinson are stranded at sea. But the thundering waves have swept them off to a tropical island, where a new life awaits them. T...

  • Manderley Forever synopsis, comments

    Manderley Forever

    Tatiana de Rosnay & Sam Taylor

    The nonfiction debut from beloved international sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay: her bestselling biography of novelist Daphne du Maurier.“It's ...

  • The House at Helygen synopsis, comments

    The House at Helygen

    Victoria Hawthorne

    'Dark, disturbing and utterly compelling' LIZ FENWICK'Haunting and skilfully crafted' PHOEBE WYNNE'Mysterious, atmospheric and chilling' ANITA FRANKA HOUSE CAN HOLD A THOUSAND SECR...

  • The Charterhouse of Parma synopsis, comments

    The Charterhouse of Parma

    Stendhal

    Headstrong and naïve, the young Italian aristocrat Fabrizio del Dongo is determined to defy the wrath of his rightwing father and go to war to fight for Napoleon. He stumbles on th...

  • The Nature of the Gods synopsis, comments

    The Nature of the Gods

    Cicero

    Towards the end of his life, Cicero turned away from his oratorical and political career and looked instead to matters of philosophy and religion. The dialogue The Nature of the Go...

  • A Hero of Our Time synopsis, comments

    A Hero of Our Time

    Mikhail Lermontov

    A masterpiece of Russian prose, Lermontov's only novel was influential for many later 19th century authors, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov. Lermotov's hero, Pechorin, ...

  • A Journal of the Plague Year synopsis, comments

    A Journal of the Plague Year

    Daniel Defoe & Christopher Bristow

    'The most reliable and comprehensive account of the Great Plague that we possess' Anthony Burgess In 1665 the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Def...

  • Dialogues and Letters synopsis, comments

    Dialogues and Letters

    Seneca

    A major writer and a leading figure in the public life of Rome, Seneca (c. 4BCAD 65) ranks among the most eloquent and influential masters of Latin prose. This selection explores h...

  • Literature and Evil synopsis, comments

    Literature and Evil

    Georges Bataille & Alastair Hamilton

    'Literature is not innocent,' stated Georges Bataille in this extraordinary 1957 collection of essays, arguing that only by acknowledging its complicity with the knowledge of evil ...

  • The Counterfeit Guest synopsis, comments

    The Counterfeit Guest

    Rose Melikan

    In this rousing sequel to The Blackstone Key, Rose Melikan’s heroine returns to the world of espionage for an intelligent, thrilling adventure in Georgian England. When the story b...

  • Don Juan synopsis, comments

    Don Juan

    Lord Byron, E. Steffan, T.G. Steffan & W.W. Pratt

    Byron's exuberant masterpiece tells of the adventures of Don Juan, beginning with his illicit love affair at the age of sixteen in his native Spain and his subsequent exile to Ital...

  • The Weird and the Eerie synopsis, comments

    The Weird and the Eerie

    Mark Fisher

    A noted cultural critic unearths the weird, the eerie, and the horrific in 20thcentury culture through a wide range of literature, film, and music referencesfrom H.P. Lovecraft and...

  • The Bostonians synopsis, comments

    The Bostonians

    Henry James & Richard Lansdown

    Published in 1886, The Bostonians begins with the arrival in Boston of Basil Ransom, a young Mississippi lawyer in search of a career. Through his cousin, Olive Chancellor, Ransom...

  • Rebecca synopsis, comments

    Rebecca

    Daphne du Maurier

    The classic Gothic suspense novel by Daphne du Maurier winner of the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century is now a Netflix film starring Lily James and Armie Hammer. ...

  • Greek Fiction synopsis, comments

    Greek Fiction

    Longus, Chariton, John Penwill, Phiroze Vasunia, Rosanna Omitowoju & Helen Morales

    In this collection of Greek fiction written between the first and fourth centuries AD, 'Callirhoe' is the stirring tale of starcrossed lovers Chaereas and Callirhoe, torn apart whe...

  • Hard Times synopsis, comments

    Hard Times

    Charles Dickens

    'Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else'Dickens's novel honouring the value of the human hea...

  • The Turn of the Key synopsis, comments

    The Turn of the Key

    Ruth Ware

    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.” Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On “This approp...

  • Murder on the Cliffs synopsis, comments

    Murder on the Cliffs

    Joanna Challis

    The storm led me to Padthaway. I could never resist the allure of dark swirling clouds, windswept leaves sweeping down cobbled lanes or a view of the sea stirring up its defiant na...

  • Oroonoko synopsis, comments

    Oroonoko

    Aphra Behn & Janet Todd

    Aphra Behn, the poet, playwright, novelist and political satirist was the first truly professional woman writer in English. This selection, edited and introduced by Professor Janet...

  • North and South synopsis, comments

    North and South

    Elizabeth Gaskell & Patricia Ingham

    Margaret's safe existence is turned upside down when she has to move to the grim northern town of Milton. Not only does she have her eyes opened by the poverty and hardship she enc...

  • Eyrbyggja Saga synopsis, comments

    Eyrbyggja Saga

    Hermann Palsson & Paul Edwards

    An Icelandic saga which mixes realism with wild gothic imagination and history with eerie tales of hauntings. It dramatizes a 13th century view of the past, from the pagan anarchy ...

  • Eugenie Grandet synopsis, comments

    Eugenie Grandet

    Honoré de Balzac & Marion Crawford

    In a gloomy house in provincial Saumur lives the miser Grandet with his wife and daughter, Eugénie, whose lives are stifled and overshadowed by his obsession with gold. Guarding hi...

  • The Winters synopsis, comments

    The Winters

    Lisa Gabriele

    "A stylish, highly original and completely addictive take on du Maurier's Rebecca. Read it!" Shari Lapena, New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next ...

  • The Little Demon synopsis, comments

    The Little Demon

    Fyodor Sologub & Ronald Wilks

    A dark classic of Russia's silver age, this blackly funny novel recounts a schoolteacher's descent into sadism, arson and murder.Mad, lascivious, sadistic and ridiculous, the provi...

  • The House Between Tides synopsis, comments

    The House Between Tides

    Sarah Maine

    An atmospheric debut novel about a woman who discovers the centuryold remains of a murder victim on her family’s Scottish estate, plunging her into an investigation of its mysterio...

  • Spinning Straw into Gold synopsis, comments

    Spinning Straw into Gold

    Joan Gould

    What’s your favorite fairy tale? Whether it’s “Cinderella,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Hansel and Gretel,” or another story, your answer reveals something significant about you, your...

  • The Orphan of Salt Winds synopsis, comments

    The Orphan of Salt Winds

    Elizabeth Brooks

    For fans of Eowyn Ivey, Rose Tremaine, and Kate Atkinson, The Orphan of Salt Winds is a bewitching debut about the secrets that haunt us.England, 1939. Tenyearold Virginia Wrathmel...

  • The Mistaken Wife synopsis, comments

    The Mistaken Wife

    Rose Melikan

    Heroic spy Mary Finch returns once again as she takes on the dangerous task of secretly traveling to Paris to interrupt FrancoAmerican negotiations in this thrilling historical fic...

  • The Fiction Writer synopsis, comments

    The Fiction Writer

    Jillian Cantor

    “Juicy, suspenseful, and irresistible.”– Nina de Gramont, New York Times Bestselling author of The Christie Affair"Sultry and mesmerizing…" – Katy Hays, New York Times&#x...

  • The Life of Samuel Johnson synopsis, comments

    The Life of Samuel Johnson

    James Boswell & David Womersley

    In Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and originality. While Johnson’s Dictionary remains a...

  • Daphne du Maurier synopsis, comments

    Daphne du Maurier

    Oriel Malet

    Daphne du Maurier’s correspondence with Oriel Malet began in the early 1950s, after they met at a cocktail party in London. At least twenty years separated them: Oriel was a gauche...

  • The Villa of Death synopsis, comments

    The Villa of Death

    Joanna Challis

    Young Daphne du Maurier must defend a friend who has been accused of murder in the next installment in the beguiling mystery series that readers of Rebecca will love.It's the summe...

  • Poems of Thomas Hardy synopsis, comments

    Poems of Thomas Hardy

    Claire Tomalin & Thomas Hardy

    Thomas Hardy wrote some of the most moving and personal poems in his era and this collection brings together the best of his verse on life and love.Hardy's poems are by turn haunti...

  • Caleb Williams synopsis, comments

    Caleb Williams

    William Godwin & Maurice Hindle

    When honest young Caleb Williams comes to work as a secretary for Squire Falkland, he soon begins to suspect that his new master is hiding a terrible secret. But as he digs deeper ...

  • Peril at Somner House synopsis, comments

    Peril at Somner House

    Joanna Challis

    After her adventures in Murder on the Cliffs, young Daphne du Maurier travels to a remote island off the coast of Cornwall to visit the estate of Lord and Lady Trevalyan. Somner Ho...

  • The Book of Disquiet synopsis, comments

    The Book of Disquiet

    Fernando Pessoa & Richard Zenith

    With its astounding hardcover reviews Richard Zenith's new complete translation of THE BOOK OF DISQUIET has now taken on a similar iconic status to ULYSSES, THE TRIAL or IN SEARCH ...

  • The Feast synopsis, comments

    The Feast

    Margaret Kennedy

    This summer holiday vintage crime classic exploring the mystery of a buried Cornish hotel invites us to solve the puzzle as detectives: perfect for fans of Celia Fremlin's Uncle Pa...

  • Monster, She Wrote synopsis, comments

    Monster, She Wrote

    Lisa Kroger & Melanie R. Anderson

    Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond.Frankenstein was just th...

  • The House on the Strand synopsis, comments

    The House on the Strand

    Daphne du Maurier

    The classic time travel novel from the legendary writer behind Rebecca and "The Birds."  "The House on the Strand is prime du Maurier." New York Times Dick Young is ...

  • The Death of Mrs. Westaway synopsis, comments

    The Death of Mrs. Westaway

    Ruth Ware

    A “perfectly executed suspense tale very much in the mode of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca” (The Washington Post) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Woo...

  • An Apology for Idlers synopsis, comments

    An Apology for Idlers

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    An irresistible invitation to reject the work ethic and enjoy life's simple pleasures (such as laughing, drinking and lying in the open air), Robert Louis Stevenson's witty and sem...

  • The House in the Orchard synopsis, comments

    The House in the Orchard

    Elizabeth Brooks

    CrimeReads Best Gothic Fiction of 2022A BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, and Departures Magazine Best Book of Fall“Reading this one feels like wandering darkened hallways with a candle...

  • The Modern Library synopsis, comments

    The Modern Library

    Carmen Callil & Colm Tóibín

    For Colm Toíbín and Carmen Callil there is no difference between literary and commercial writing there is only the good novel: engrossing, inspirational, compelling. In their sele...