Daphne Du Maurier

A masterpiece of biography and storytelling where subject and author are perfectly matched.

Rebecca was published in 1938 and 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 brought, 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 lovers, Gertrude Lawrence, and with an aristocratic American woman.

Most significant of all, Margaret Forster ingeniously strips away the relaxed and charming façade 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 have imagined.