It is 1957. The author Daphne du Maurier, beautiful, famous, despairing as her marriage falls apart, finds herself haunted by Rebecca, the heroine of her most famous novel, written twenty years earlier. Resolving to write herself out of her misery, Daphne becomes passionately interested in Branwell, the reprobate brother of the Bronte sisters, and begins a correspondence with the enigmatic bibliophile Alex Symington as she researches a biography. But behind Symington's respectable scholarly surface is a slippery character with much to hide, and soon truth and fiction have become indistinguishable.In present-day London, a lonely young woman, newly married after a fleeting courtship with a man considerably older than her, struggles with her PhD thesis. Her husband, still seemingly in thrall to his brilliant, charismatic first wife, is frequently distant and mysterious, and she can't find a way to make this large, imposing house in Hampstead feel like her own. Retreating instead into the comfort of her library, she begins to become absorbed in a fifty-year-old literary mystery. The last untold Bronte story, "Daphne" is a tale of obsession and possession; of stolen manuscripts and forged signatures; of love lost, and love found. It is a beautiful, original novel from the acclaimed author of "Wish I May".
Daphne
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Review
'A tantalising literary mystery... Effortlessly overlaying today's London, Yorkshire and Cornwall with their 1950s incarnations, this novel draws you in to its fraught but passionate world as thoroughly as one of Daphne's own.' -- The Financial Times
'Blurring fact and fiction, this is brave and compelling storytelling.' -- Woman and Home
'Daphne is a compulsively readable novel. It merges fact and fiction, the present and the past, in a near-flawless construct that weaves together Brontë and du Maurier fiction and family history -- colliding in Daphne's writing of her biography of Branwell Brontë.'
-- The Spectator
'Justine Picardie has written an absorbing book, a hybrid work of truth, conjecture, fact and fiction, and a story of insight and intelligence.' -- Times Literary Supplement
'Last night I dreamed of Branwell B again...' Daphne du Maurier's passionate interest in the life of the Bronte brother is at the heart of Justine Picardie's gripping novel, Daphne.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'Picardie's clever and original novel presents...an argument for a reassessment of du Maurier's literary quality.' -- Evening Standard
'Skillfully weaving her recreation of du Maurier's life with a beguiling present-day tale, Picardie's novel has as many twists as one of her heroine's own.' -- Red
'Switching between past and present, the novel explores the lives of Daphne du Maurier, author of Rebecca, and the young woman writing a thesis about her in present-day London. A woman who just happens to be married to an older man who is obsessed with his first wife...' -- Eve
'This glorious novel... is a divine treat for lovers of literary mysteries.'
-- The Times
`This literary mystery is a dizzying mixture of fiction and fact ... A compelling character study of Daphne du Maurier' -- Daily Telegraph
'Blurring fact and fiction, this is brave and compelling storytelling.' -- Woman and Home
'Daphne is a compulsively readable novel. It merges fact and fiction, the present and the past, in a near-flawless construct that weaves together Brontë and du Maurier fiction and family history -- colliding in Daphne's writing of her biography of Branwell Brontë.'
-- The Spectator
'Justine Picardie has written an absorbing book, a hybrid work of truth, conjecture, fact and fiction, and a story of insight and intelligence.' -- Times Literary Supplement
'Last night I dreamed of Branwell B again...' Daphne du Maurier's passionate interest in the life of the Bronte brother is at the heart of Justine Picardie's gripping novel, Daphne.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'Picardie's clever and original novel presents...an argument for a reassessment of du Maurier's literary quality.' -- Evening Standard
'Skillfully weaving her recreation of du Maurier's life with a beguiling present-day tale, Picardie's novel has as many twists as one of her heroine's own.' -- Red
'Switching between past and present, the novel explores the lives of Daphne du Maurier, author of Rebecca, and the young woman writing a thesis about her in present-day London. A woman who just happens to be married to an older man who is obsessed with his first wife...' -- Eve
'This glorious novel... is a divine treat for lovers of literary mysteries.'
-- The Times
`This literary mystery is a dizzying mixture of fiction and fact ... A compelling character study of Daphne du Maurier' -- Daily Telegraph
About the Author
Justine Picardie is the author of If the Spirit Moves You: Life and Love After Death, the novel Wish I May and, most recently, My Mother's Wedding Dress. She is also the co-writer or editor of several other books. She was formerly the features editor of British Vogue and is now a columnist for Harper's Bazaar and the Sunday Telegraph Magazine. She lives in London with her husband and two sons.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I find "Daphne" a very interesting intertwined story with deep and psychologically fine descriptions of characters, particularly Daphne du Maurier and her fan. Being a psychiatrist myself, I recognize the realistic descriptions of psychopathological signs shown by Miss du Maurier and her husband on one hand and on the other the difficulties of a marital (human) relation between the contemporary couple formed by Paul and his du Maurier fan second wife. Moreover the unfortunate life of Branwell Bronte develops as a sort of background and uniting tissue connecting all characters of the story.
The book is very well and intelligently written and has been a real pleasure to read it in this cold and snowy winter that has transformed my Italian Piedmont in a sort of Lapland.
I DO invite to read it!
The book is very well and intelligently written and has been a real pleasure to read it in this cold and snowy winter that has transformed my Italian Piedmont in a sort of Lapland.
I DO invite to read it!
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Dot
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I have read this over the weekend, as soon as I started it, I knew I would not want to put it down. Justine Picardie has written a literary mystery which revolves around Daphne Du Maurier who is my favourite author. I do not always like fictionalised accounts of real people but it is evident from the very first page that the author has done painstaking research into her subject. Daphne is based on biographical fact and there are three key strands to the story. Obviously Daphne Du Maurier is the main one and we meet her in 1957 as she begins work on her new book on Branwell Bronte and enlists the help of Alex Symington, a distinguished Bronte scholar. The Brontes, especially Branwell provide the second focus and the many mysteries surrounding the family are explored. The third strand of the book is set in the present day and follows an un-named narrator who is embarking on her thesis concerning Daphne Du Maurier and the Brontes.
Justine Picardie weaves her story so well, the basic idea is very simple but it is all the little details and sub-stories she explores that make this book so fantastic. The character of Daphne Du Maurier is perfect, I felt like she had captured this woman so well. Justine Picardie explores Daphne's childhood and relationship with her father Gerald plus the difficult relationship she has with her husband, the great Boy Browning. I also found the connection between Daphne and the Llewelyn Davies brothers (the children that J.M. Barrie adopted and based Peter Pan on) truly fascinating.
I felt that perception of one's self was a key theme of the book. Daphne at many points feels she has to act in a certain way as a best-selling author and wife of a war hero rather than truly being herself.... Read more ›
Justine Picardie weaves her story so well, the basic idea is very simple but it is all the little details and sub-stories she explores that make this book so fantastic. The character of Daphne Du Maurier is perfect, I felt like she had captured this woman so well. Justine Picardie explores Daphne's childhood and relationship with her father Gerald plus the difficult relationship she has with her husband, the great Boy Browning. I also found the connection between Daphne and the Llewelyn Davies brothers (the children that J.M. Barrie adopted and based Peter Pan on) truly fascinating.
I felt that perception of one's self was a key theme of the book. Daphne at many points feels she has to act in a certain way as a best-selling author and wife of a war hero rather than truly being herself.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Jose
Format:Paperback
A literary novel involving Daphne Du Maurier? This book has allowed me to know her better and also discover the Bronte's universe. I could barely put the book down until I finished it. The characters (Daphne, her husband Tommy, Jane, Alexander Symington) are engrossing in many different ways. I highly recommend this book. I am now left with the task to find and read: a biography of D. Du Maurier, Wuthering Heights and a bio of the Bronte sisters.
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Goth lady
Format:Hardcover
This is a beautifully written, page turning novel, based on biographical fact, that appealed to me particularly because of the two central concerns---Daphne du Maurier and the Brontes, with especial reference to Branwell. Three narrative strands--two set in 1957, at the time when du Maurier was beginning work on her biography of Branwell Bronte--and one set in the present time are skilfully woven together and thematically linked. I read this book in one afternoon, unable to put it down, and was immediately inspired to re-read Margaret Forster's Life of Daphne du Maurier, and turn again to several Bronte biographies.
Superb and scholarly! Highly recommended.
Superb and scholarly! Highly recommended.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A novel about Daphne du Maurier and the Brontë sisters? Sounds like the perfect book to curl up with on the sofa for an intriguing evening or two. But it didn't quite hit the spot for me.
In 1957, Daphne du Maurier is a best-selling novelist living in her beloved Cornish hideaway. But as the story opens she discovers that her husband, a war hero and now treasurer to the Duke of Edinburgh, is having an affair. He's also having a nervous breakdown, which is why he's in a London nursing home. Daphne, who's had a few affairs herself, decides to make the best of things and to take her mind off it all, she embarks on research for a book she's had in mind for a while: a biography of that sad and neglected Brontë, Branwell, who died of drink and drugs, a failure in the shadow of his sisters.
Daphne's investigations bring her into epistolary contact with J. A. Symington, a scholar employed by the Brontë Society until he was booted out under suspicion of having stolen some original documents. This much is fact, and the resulting biography, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë, was published in 1960. Most of Daphne happens in the (presumably made-up) letters Daphne exchanges with the embittered Symington, and in the private thoughts each has about the circumstances of their own lives. It's a tale of literary sleuthing (was Branwell the real author of some of Emily's poems and perhaps even of Wuthering Heights? What happened to Emily's handwritten notebook of her poems?), interwoven with ruminations on the past (Daphne's troubled relationship with her difficult, possessive father; Symington's fraught dealings with fellow-Brontë scholars).
There's also a parallel strand set in the present day: a young Cambridge graduate is doing a PhD on Daphne du Maurier and the Brontës.... Read more ›
In 1957, Daphne du Maurier is a best-selling novelist living in her beloved Cornish hideaway. But as the story opens she discovers that her husband, a war hero and now treasurer to the Duke of Edinburgh, is having an affair. He's also having a nervous breakdown, which is why he's in a London nursing home. Daphne, who's had a few affairs herself, decides to make the best of things and to take her mind off it all, she embarks on research for a book she's had in mind for a while: a biography of that sad and neglected Brontë, Branwell, who died of drink and drugs, a failure in the shadow of his sisters.
Daphne's investigations bring her into epistolary contact with J. A. Symington, a scholar employed by the Brontë Society until he was booted out under suspicion of having stolen some original documents. This much is fact, and the resulting biography, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë, was published in 1960. Most of Daphne happens in the (presumably made-up) letters Daphne exchanges with the embittered Symington, and in the private thoughts each has about the circumstances of their own lives. It's a tale of literary sleuthing (was Branwell the real author of some of Emily's poems and perhaps even of Wuthering Heights? What happened to Emily's handwritten notebook of her poems?), interwoven with ruminations on the past (Daphne's troubled relationship with her difficult, possessive father; Symington's fraught dealings with fellow-Brontë scholars).
There's also a parallel strand set in the present day: a young Cambridge graduate is doing a PhD on Daphne du Maurier and the Brontës.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable
I enjoyed this book very much. It was well written and made me care about the characters and what happened to them. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Carmel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and insightful tale which would appeal to du Maurier and...
I loved this book. It is based on a true story centring around Daphne du Maurier's biography about Branwell Bronte. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2010 by Butterflylady
4.0 out of 5 stars
very satisfying
A study of literature - a romance of texts - of poignant difficult marriages, of people real and fictional, seamlessly stitched together. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2010 by C. F. Hankinson
3.0 out of 5 stars
So full of promise but...
For me, this looked and sounded irresistible. Even the cover beckoned - a muted, misty invitation to walk through the gates, to follow the girl with the rose umbrella along a... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2009 by Suzie
4.0 out of 5 stars
A dark claustrophobic mystery
I picked up this book because of my love of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (Virago modern classics). This book is based on real events, real people and real places. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by Joanne D'Arcy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Messy and incoherent
This sounded great from the blurb: Daphne du Maurier, literary shenanigans and the Brontes, some of my favourite things: but the actual execution seems quite haphazard and... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by Roman Clodia
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost in the style of du Maurier
Having been a fan of Daphne du Maurier for exactly forty years, it was good to read a 'take' on some of her biographical background. Read more
Published on 14 July 2009 by G. D. Busby
3.0 out of 5 stars
Daphne
I wanted to read this book intially as one of the minor characters was related to me, and I was interested in how the author was going to present the person. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2009 by C. Curran
3.0 out of 5 stars
Such a hard novel to review - it is passionate yet lifeless all at the...
DAPHNE is one of the hardest novels to review, and that is why I am sitting firmly on the fence by rating it at 3 stars. Read more
Published on 30 April 2009 by Brida
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment
Great idea, fascinating subjects - but how dreary the end result was. Plot weaving was tedious, characterisation barely two-dimensional, and the 'modern' character lacked interest... Read more
Published on 29 April 2009 by JANE READ
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