| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Daphne Du Maurier for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
" Margaret Forster can do no wrong. . . . The story is as gripping as Rebecca, as full of surprises as My Cousin Rachel. . . . affectionate, honest, unsentimental and perceptive."
- "Daily Mail"
- "Daily Mail"
Product Description
"Rebecca", published in 1938, brought its author instant international acclaim, capturing the popular imagination with its haunting atmosphere of suspense and mystery. But the more fame this and her other books encouraged, the more reclusive "Daphne du Maurier" became. Margaret Forster's award-winning biography could hardly be more worthy of its subject. Drawing on private letters and papers, and with the unflinching co-operation of Daphne du Maurier's family, Margaret Forster explores the secret drama of her life - the stifling relationship with her father, actor-manager Gerald du Maurier; her troubled marriage to war hero and royal aide, 'Boy' Browning; her wartime love affair; her passion for Cornwall and her deep friendships with the last of her father's actress loves, Gertrude Lawrence, and with an aristocratic American woman. Most significant of all, Margaret Forster ingeniously strips away the relaxed and charming facade to lay bare the true workings of a complex and emotional character whose passionate and often violent stories mirrored her own fantasy life more than anyone could ever have imagined.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a truly beautifully written biography. It is insightful and intelligent, and is one of the best biographies I have read.
52 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I ordered this biography after reading Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, they were so good I had to know more about the author Du Maurier. This biography got me hooked from the beginning, its written part novel, part fact based. It doesnt bore you with lots of dates and names but includes all the important stuff with Forsters own interpretation of Du Mauriers life. Well written, lovely photos throughout. A highly recommended book to anyone wanting to know more about Daphne Du Maurier and her extremely fascinating life that reflects itself in her novels. One of the best biographies I have read in a long while...
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Daphne du Maurier is known primarily now for her most famous novels, Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek. But she actually wrote in a variety of genres and it is a mistake to dismiss her as a "romantic novelist". Less well-known is the fact that she wrote a number of collections of macabre short stories including "The Birds" on which the Hitchcock film was based, and "Don't Look Now", which resulted in that extremely creepy film by Nic Roeg starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. All of this goes to demonstrate what a complex and torn person she was and Margaret Forster analyses this brilliantly in her biography (it is not "part novel" as one reviewer here suggests).
Du Maurier was a prolific correspondent and using her letters and notes Forster illustrates what a fascinating woman it was who wrote these well known works and what inspired her to write them. Much has been made of the revelation in this book that Forster seems to have had a physical relationship with the famous actress Gertrude Lawrence and the evidence presented in letters written by Forster does seem to confirm that view. All of which only goes to make her a more interesting character. Her husband, Tommy, rose to the top in the army and joined the royal household, adding another interesting strand to their lives together (Prince Philip called at their home in Fowey on several occasions). Du Maurier's obsession with Cornwall and Menabilly, her home for many years, is also examined.
This biography grips right to the end and whether or not you are familiar with du Maurier's work, you will enjoy reading about this extraordinary woman. With luck it may make you seek out some of her less well-known, but equally impressive works, such as The Scapegoat, which is one of my personal favourites.
Du Maurier was a prolific correspondent and using her letters and notes Forster illustrates what a fascinating woman it was who wrote these well known works and what inspired her to write them. Much has been made of the revelation in this book that Forster seems to have had a physical relationship with the famous actress Gertrude Lawrence and the evidence presented in letters written by Forster does seem to confirm that view. All of which only goes to make her a more interesting character. Her husband, Tommy, rose to the top in the army and joined the royal household, adding another interesting strand to their lives together (Prince Philip called at their home in Fowey on several occasions). Du Maurier's obsession with Cornwall and Menabilly, her home for many years, is also examined.
This biography grips right to the end and whether or not you are familiar with du Maurier's work, you will enjoy reading about this extraordinary woman. With luck it may make you seek out some of her less well-known, but equally impressive works, such as The Scapegoat, which is one of my personal favourites.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
more interesting than I expected
It took me a while to get into this book as I am not a particular fan of Daphne Du Maurier. I found it hard to empathise with someone who lived such a privileged life, but the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by BrynG
Diverse Daphne!
Margaret Forster has provided a chronological detailed insight into the complicated life of the author Daphne du Maurier. Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Reader
Excellent, comprehensive and very well written
Have been entranced with Daphne du Maurier since reading Rebecca and was always keen to know a little more about her. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Rebecca C
Excellently written
I have read a great deal of literary biographies particularly of authors such as The Brontes and Austen. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lily Lit
Daphne du Maurier written by Margaret Forster
A wordy but comprehensive biography of Daphne du Maurier. Well written and interesting and a book that leaves no doubt as to Daphne's creative and sometimes obsessive... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. Rowley
HIDDEN DEPTHS
A VERY SPOOKY READ - STRANGE RELATIONSHIPS, WEIRD SEX AND A WRITER DRIVEN TO KEEP GOING TO SURVIVE FINANCIALLY. Read more
Published 22 months ago by P. STACE
Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster
A very readable biography with much attention to detail. Very well researched. A well-rounded depiction of an unusual and difficult character, it holds one's attention from the... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by Briona.
I loved this book
I loved Daphme Du maurier books ever since I was kid and my sister and I and our mother watched 70's adaptation of rebbeca. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by R. Wilson
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
