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"I WALKED THIS LAND WITH A DREAMER’S FREEDOM AND WITH A WAKING MAN’S PERCEPTION
– PLACES, HOUSES WHISPERED TO ME THEIR SECRETS AND SHARED WITH ME THEIR SORROWS
AND THEIR JOYS.  AND IN RETURN I GAVE THEM SOMETHING OF MYSELF, A FEW OF MY
NOVELS PASSING INTO THE FOLK-LORE OF THIS ANCIENT PLACE." 


(FROM PAGE 7, ENCHANTED CORNWALL, PENGUIN GROUP 1989)


 


WELCOME TO THE DAPHNE DU MAURIER WEBSITE 

The Daphne du Maurier website extends a warm welcome to new readers and welcomes
back everyone who regularly connects with us through the website and our
Facebook and Twitter pages.

 



Daphne du Maurier and Rhododendrons at Menabilly




A roundup of the information and news that we bring you month by month:




August

On behalf of the Fowey Festival, we announced to you that the Fowey Festival
Wall Calendar 2023 is now available.  Please click here for details on
purchasing this beautiful literary calendar. 

Jane Prince shared with us an outstanding paper that she had written for the
Arthur Quiller-Couch website.  Called, Edwardian Children to Modern Women: The
Friendship of Foy Quiller-Couch, Daphne du Maurier, Clara Vyvyan and Oenone
Rashleigh, it brings together these four extraordinary women whose friendships
lasted from their initial introductions to the end of their lives.  To find out
more, please click here. 

The Helford River and Frenchman's Creek are among the most beautiful areas of
Cornwall.  We brought you news of a new novel, The Creek by L.J. Ross, which is
set in Frenchman's Creek and recommended it as a great summer read.  To find out
more, please click here. 

We brought you news of the sale of Jamaica Inn here. 

Chris Main contributed two pieces to the website.  The first was Postcard From
Howarth, in which he described a visit to Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage and
discussed Daphne du Maurier's fascination with the Brontë family and her
biography of Branwell.  To read this article, please click here.  His second
piece was an excellent review of that biography, The Infernal World of Branwell
Brontë.  Click here to read the review. 


In August, we reminded all those who belong to the Daphne du Maurier Society of
North America and their guests about their next event.   It takes place on 10th
September 2022, when there will be a luncheon and discussion about Daphne du
Maurier's short story, A Border-Line Case.  We also helped with information
about obtaining the text for this story, as some members had struggled to get
copies.




July




At the end of July, we included an article about Daphne du Maurier's short
story, The Doll, with a link to The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast run by Tony
Walker, who reads the story to you.  To read the article, please click here, and
to listen to the Podcast, please click here.



We reminded you that the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America's Fall Short
Story Study for 2022 takes place on Saturday 10th September and will discuss
Daphne du Maurier's short story A Border-Line Case.  For more details, please
click here.

We reviewed Windswept: Why Women Walk, a memoir by Annabel Abbs.  In her book,
she tells the stories of some extraordinary women who chose to find their sense
of self, their identity and their freedom by walking, really walking, in rugged
and forbidding landscapes.  The walkers include several interesting women,
including Clara Vyvyan and Daphne du Maurier.  For more, please click here.

On Sunday, 3rd July 2022, the BBC Radio 4 Broadcasting House programme included
a fascinating five-minute piece about Daphne du Maurier's French ancestry.  On
the same day, the BBC News website published an article on the subject.  To read
more, please click here.  To listen to the programme, please click here and go
to about twenty minutes into the broadcast.

Because of the close link between Daphne du Maurier and the Quiller-Couch
family, we include a small section for Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch on this
website.  This month we shared two letters with you, both written by Sir Arthur,
to members of the Hern family, who were friends and neighbours of the
Quiller-Couch's in Fowey.  See here.





June


We brought news that the wonderful Musical thriller Rebecca, based on Daphne du
Maurier’s novel, will return to Vienna in September of this year.  See here.

Last year we told you about the Women’s Prize Trust’s collaboration with Girls
on Top to produce beautiful t-shirts with the names of exceptional women writers
on them.  In June we were able to tell you about the new special edition
t-shirts with the names of your favourite authors, including Daphne du Maurier,
with their names in bright colours.  See here.


Following the success of Dr Serena Trowbridge’s talk at the Fowey Festival in
May, we were delighted to publish Serena’s article, on which the talk was based
- Reading and Re-Reading Daphne du Maurier: how books change us.  To read the
article, please click here.

We reviewed and recommended a new poetry collection, In Dangerous Hours by Kitty
Donnelly, which included two poems inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s novel
Rebecca.  Read more here.  And the BFI Film Classics: Rebecca by Patricia
White.  Read more here. 
    
We began the month by celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of H.M. Queen Elizabeth
II with an article about when the Queen and Prince Philip visited Daphne du
Maurier and her husband Lt. Gen. Boy Browning for tea at Menabilly.  To read the
article, please click here.




May


It was, of course, during May that we celebrated both the anniversary of Daphne
du Maurier's birth and the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature.  There are
many references to the various festival events that took place, including the
Fowey Art Trail and the Fowey Secret Gardens, and especially events of
particular relevance to Daphne du Maurier.  You can find these on our website's
Fowey Festival News Page.  Please click here.

We also told you about a magazine article about Daphne du Maurier and her French
ancestors.  Please click here to read more.

We reminded you about the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America's next
event, which is a screening of the 2017 adaptation of My Cousin Rachel, followed
by a discussion led by author Samantha Mabry.  This event takes place on 15th
June.  For more information, please click here.

Local author Gretchen Viehmann transformed Fowey's pretty bus stop into a
fabulous illusion of a library, with brightly coloured books and several
seagulls looking on to see what it is all about. To see our great bus stop,
please click here.

Book reviewer and blogger Heavenali hosted the Daphne du Maurier Reading Week
for the fourth year, beginning on Monday 9th May.  Each year she leads this
event during the week of Daphne du Maurier's birthday.  To look back at his
event, please click here.




April


The London Library announced their Write and Shine event to celebrate Daphne du
Maurier's birthday on 13th May, to read more, please click here.

Mike Alexander sent us an article about his meeting with Daphne du Maurier in
1960, see here.

We announced the Fowey Festival fundraiser quiz, which takes place at the Safe
Harbour, Fowey, on Tuesday 3rd May, see here and the Fowey Film Club's showing
of Hitchock's film of Rebecca on 30th April, see here.

We announced that Ghosts from the Library: Lost Tales of Terror and the
Supernatural will be published in September and will include Daphne du Maurier's
little known short story, Terror,  read more here.

The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America announced their June event, a
movie night.  The film will be the 2017 version of My Cousin Rachel, starring
Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin.  Read more here.




March

Dates for entering the Fowey Festival Photographic Competition for the Wall
Calendar 2023 were extended but have now closed.  The judging panel will choose
the final twelve photographs, which will be on display at this year's Festival
(May 6th – 14th), so that the public can vote for their favourite image.  The
photograph with the most votes will feature on the calendar's cover.

The Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature programme, which takes place from
6th-14th May 2022, was launched.  To see the programme and book tickets, please
click here.  We reviewed the Daphne du Maurier related events here.



Dr Serena Trowbridge made it possible for us to share some of her students'
essays on Gothic Literature and the place that Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca takes
in the genre.  https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=858&nc=2

March began with the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America holding their
meeting on the subject of My Cousin Rachel. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=855&nc=2. 
Later in the month, they put out a call for speakers for 2023 and 2024. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=859&nc=2

 

February

On 28th February, one of the contestants on Mastermind chose the short stories
of Daphne du Maurier as her specialist subject and did an outstanding job with
her answers, getting all fourteen questions that she had time to answer
correct.  https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=852&nc=2.
James Whiteside, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, New York,
wrote an article looking at the case for adapting Daphne du Maurier's most
famous novel, Rebecca, into a ballet. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=853&nc=2
Melissa Julianne Severn wrote an article for the website entitled The Ulterior
Feminism of Rebecca.  https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=846&nc=2.
Cornwall Life Magazine published an article about Daphne du Maurier to celebrate
the 115th anniversary of her birth. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=847&nc=2
Fowey Festival launched its Photographic Competition to find twelve photographs
based on the theme of Literary Landscapes.  The winning pictures will be used as
the Fowey Festival 2023 wall calendar. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=845&nc=2
February began with a new television series in the UK on More4 - Britain's Novel
Landscapes.  The second week (10th February) brought us a fantastic programme
about Daphne du Maurier.  https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=842&nc=2

 

January

The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America announced their programme of
events for 2022.
https://daphnedumauriersociety.org/2022-events
Landscape Magazine published an article about the area from Lostwithiel to
Fowey, describing the towns, villages, and countryside along the way, including
the history and literary inspiration this area provides, and a piece about
Daphne du Maurier.  https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=841&nc=2
Helen Barratt wrote a companion article to her piece on Daphne du Maurier's
visit to Platres, Cyprus.  This time she wrote about her visit to the Forest
Park Hotel, Platres.  To read her first article - Last night I dreamt I went to
Platres again, please click here:
https://www.dumaurier.org/menu_page.php?id=187  To read her companion article –
Finding Daphne, please click here:
https://www.dumaurier.org/menu_page.php?id=193
This month we told you about the launch of the Fowey Festival Young Writers and
Artists Competition 2022.  This year the theme is Our Natural World. 
https://www.dumaurier.org/news_details.php?id=839&nc=2

 

We begin the year by looking at what du Maurier related anniversaries will be
coming along in 2022.

On 13th May 2022, it will be 115 years since Daphne du Maurier was born.  As
many of you know, Daphne’s first published work was the short story Terror,
which appeared in The Bystander magazine on 26th December 1928.  She continued
writing and publishing until 1987, when her final work, Classics of the Macabre,
was published to celebrate her 80th birthday.  This book celebrates its 35th
anniversary in 2022.



 



    



    





 Classics of the Macabre (left), the signed limited edition (right), and an
example of the signatures of Daphne du Maurier and the illustrator Michael
Foreman in the limited edition (middle) 

 

Enchanted Cornwall was also published before Daphne died.  It was a
collaboration between her son, Kits Browning, and the writer Piers Dudgeon and
included text from Daphne’s Cornish writing. 

Daphne met Frederick Browning, known by his colleagues as Boy, and by family as
Tommy, when he sailed down to Fowey with his friend John Prescott to see if he
could meet the author of The Loving Spirit, which he had just read.  Tommy
succeeded in his mission on the second attempt, and they were married three
months later at St Wyllow Church, Lanteglos by Fowey.  So, this is our next
significant anniversary as it is 90 years since Daphne and Tommy were married on
19th July 1932.

2022 brings us several other anniversaries relating to the works of Daphne du
Maurier.  In May 1932, Daphne’s second novel, I’ll Never Be Young Again, was
published, making that another 90th anniversary to celebrate.  This was a very
differently-paced novel compared with the family sage told in The Loving
Spirit.  It was a contemporary novel, and Daphne drew on her own experiences and
observations to write it.  It was the first of five novels that she wrote as the
male narrator, a device that she used to significant effect.  The book tells a
story in two halves of a young man’s experiences as he travels and later lives
in Paris. 

 

 

A scarce first UK edition copy of Daphne du Maurier's second novel I'll Never Be
Young Again


Other books which celebrate an anniversary this year are The du Mauriers,
Daphne’s biography about her ancestors, published in March 1937; the single
short story Happy Christmas, published in the UK in December 1942; and The Apple
Tree, a collection of short stories published in the UK in August 1952 and later
known as The Birds and Other Stories.  In addition, three novels celebrate
anniversaries.  The Scapegoat is 65 this year; Castle Dor is 60; Rule Britannia
is 50.  Vanishing Cornwall was published 55 years ago, and Growing Pains: The
Shaping of a Writer, later known as Myself When Young: The Shaping of a Writer,
celebrates its 45th anniversary.  Sometimes a writers work becomes dated and old
fashioned, but one of the interesting things about Daphne du Maurier’s writing
is that it doesn’t date and is as relevant today as it has always been.  Rule
Britannia is an excellent example of this, having gained a considerable
resurgence of interest during the Brexit debacle.

 



The books celebrating anniversaries in 2022.  This copy of The du Mauriers,
while rather fragile, is very special because it belonged to Daphne's cousin
John Llewelyn Davies, known as Jack, and later his daughter Henrietta

 

We must mention that Angela du Maurier died twenty years ago, on 5th February
2002. 

She also has three books with anniversaries in 2022.  Treveryan, published in
1942, is a novel set in Cornwall and probably one of her best works, so
definitely worth reading if you haven’t already.  Shallow Waters, the story of a
talented young actress who has to choose between her career on stage and her
equally promising career as a wife, published in 1952 and Pilgrims by the Way,
Angela’s biographical work, based on her visit to the Holy Land, published in
1967.



 



     





An image of Angela du Maurier aged about 26, and her three books celebrating
anniversaries in 2022

 

With all these titles celebrating special anniversaries this year, you have
immediately got some super choices to add to your 2022 reading lists.  What an
opportunity to read for the first time or re-read some of Daphne du Maurier's
finest work.

Keep an eye on this Home Page, our News Page and the Fowey Festival pages,
because we will be adding to them as the year goes by.

Your thoughts and comments are always valuable, and we could not run this
website without all of you out there cheering us on, so get in touch by email,
via the forum or on Facebook and Twitter.


 



Daphne and Tommy outside Menabilly




In March 2016 we re-launched the Daphne du Maurier website.  We extend thanks to
the du Maurier Browning family for its on-going support and John Baxendale for
all his work running the site for so many years.

You will find information about Daphne du Maurier's life and work, and her
family and associates, on this site. A Forum provides an opportunity for
Daphne's readers, followers, admirers, and fans to contribute their views and
knowledge, a News Page to keep you up to date with the latest information on
people, places, and events connected with Daphne, and much more.

At the top of the page, is a picture of the Gribbin Head, just outside Fowey, a
feature of the landscape that was so important to Daphne du Maurier and her
writing.

Early in 2020, a new organisation called the Daphne du Maurier Society of North
America was formed, with their base in Dallas, Texas.  They suggested that we
forge links with them, and, with the blessing of the du Maurier Browning family,
that is precisely what we did.  By joining together, we can promote their events
and learn from any discoveries that come about through their meetings.  We can
also share the knowledge and information that is continually growing on our
website.  Click here to find out more about them:
https://daphnedumauriersociety.org

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, the great writer and important literary man of Fowey,
was often referred to as Q.  Some years ago, the Daphne du Maurier website was
approached by The Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch Memorial Fund (the Q Fund) asking if
we would consider giving him an internet presence.  Because of the close links
between Daphne du Maurier and Q, we happily agreed to this.  So, it was with
real pleasure that the du Maurier Browning family and the Daphne du Maurier
website welcomed this section to the website dedicated to Sir Arthur
Quiller-Couch.  Just click here to find out more:
https://www.dumaurier.org/sirarthurquillercouch.php

We are always interested in including your articles, news, reviews, and snippets
of information on the website.  So, come on all you Daphne du Maurier and Q
followers, make this your website by getting in touch and sharing what you know.


 


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