English writer Du Maurier Daphne: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Dumaurier Daphne (1907–1989) is undoubtedly a classic of the thriller genre today. Her works, for all their romanticism and unusualness, belong to full-fledged literature. No discounts on the "genre" of her novels and short stories are needed. Her books (“My Cousin Rachel”, “Scapegoat”, “House on the Shore”, “Blue Lenses”, “Birds. Stories” and many others) are full of drama, tension, sharpness … The final almost always presents a completely unexpected denouement. There is some understatement in her works, something that gives reading a unique aftertaste.

Family

Rode Du Maurier has been known since the end of the 18th century. Three daughters were born in the family of creative people Gerald du Maurier and Muriel Beaumond.

Dumaurier Daphne was born on May 13, 1907 under the sign of Venus. Grandfather drew cartoons for Punch magazine, and then, when his eyesight worsened, he wrote the famous novel Trilby. In addition to Gerald's children, he had five more grandchildren, whose characters served as the starting point for creating images in the novel "Peter Pan".

Childhood and youth

Gerald du Maurier's children were educated at home. As a child, Daphne read a lot, and at the age of 18 her first collection of stories was published, which was called "The Thirsty". Then she left to continue her education in France, near Paris. At this time, she pondered the issues of financial independence and seriously engaged in literature. At the age of 24, her first novel, The Spirit of Love, was published, which brought success and the desired independence.

Marriage

This novel drew the attention of a young Major Browning. He met a charming author, and the young people started a family in 1932. For valor in the war against Nazism, the major will receive the rank of lieutenant general and will be knighted. Marriage and the birth of children did not distract the writer from creativity. In 1936, Du Maurier published a new novel, inspired by the spirit of Stevenson's work, The Jamaica Inn, only it has a mystical and terrible character.

A novel that has been filmed many times

A young 31-year-old woman already has three daughters. In addition, an agreement was concluded with the publisher, who was shown a plan for a new novel. There are quite certain terms, and an advance payment has been received. The plot is ready, but the draft of the author does not suit. He is discarded by Daphne Du Maurier. Rebecca (and we are talking about this novel) will be written with a delay, but in record time. Leaving the children for a while, just four months after visiting Alexandria with her husband, in the same breath she is preparing a new manuscript for publication. The publisher predicts a long-term recognition of the novel. HerselfDaphne believed that he was too bleak, shrouded in darkness, suggesting very gloomy thoughts and forebodings, and therefore did not expect success. However, time has shown that Daphne Du Maurier was mistaken. "Rebecca" was first on the list of the hundred best detectives of the century. In 2000, the novel was generally named the best work of the 20th century.

Famous novel

The book immediately plunges the reader into an atmosphere of fear, loneliness and mental anguish. The novel is spoken in the first person, and the name of the heroine is never mentioned. We'll call her Mrs Winter. A shy young girl was the companion of the we althy Mrs. Van Hoper. This overweight lady, gossip and not very smart woman, was much older. On the Cote d'Azur, Maximilian de Winter drew attention to our heroine, and Mrs. Van Hoper was quick to inform her companion that his wife Rebecca had died a year ago.

When Mrs. Van Hopper fell ill, the two main characters spent a lot of time together. No one had ever cared for a girl, and her soul from the first love was light and joyful. Mrs. Van Hoper recovered and decided to go to America. In desperation, the young creature rushed to say goodbye to Maximilian, and he made a silly girl an offer to become his wife. Mrs. Van Hoper uttered venomous words to her companion and was forced to let her go.

At Manderly Manor

Before entering, Mrs Winter panicked. Even the flowers looked like monsters to her. The housekeeper gathered all the servants to look at the new mistress. Mrs. Denver immediately doused the coldand contempt for the young mistress Manderly. She showed in every way, speaking with ill-concealed malice, that Rebecca, who was raised by her nanny Denver, a creature of the highest order, a young de Winter, is a nonentity.

All the time behind her stood the invisible shadow of Rebecca, illuminating everything with her unearthly beauty and mind of the highest order. It was something to go crazy, especially since Denver tried to push Maximilian's young wife to commit suicide. Maximilian's sister, Beatrice, immediately arrived at the estate, along with her husband Giles. They defuse the situation somewhat, but not for long. Things are getting more and more tense for Mrs. de Winter. This state is strongly supported by Denver, who hates everyone and everything. De Winter believes that her husband still loves his dead wife, an extraordinary beauty and intelligence.

Costume ball

Daphne Du Maurier's romance is rapidly approaching its denouement. As under Rebecca, the hosts had to give an annual ball. Mrs. de Winter should have ordered an evening dress. She did this after listening to the advice of the treacherous Denver. The husband was taken aback and was seriously angry when he saw his wife in an evening dress. He demanded that she quickly change clothes while no one saw her. And Denver had the face of an evil demon, triumphant and repulsive. It was a copy of Rebecca's last year's dress. Maxim's sister, Beatrice, did her best to console de Winter, who was in distress and discouraged. And Denver triumphed.

Decoupling

Only at the very end is it revealed what a true vile and ugly facehad Rebecca. The novel by Daphne Du Maurier keeps the reader in suspense from the first to the last phrase. Rebecca was so disgusting to her husband that he could not stand it and killed her. Rebecca had a lover, her penniless cousin, and she supported him.

When the investigation ended in favor of Maxim, then, returning to Manderley from the city, they saw how their estate was burning.

First translations of early stories

Today, the Russian reader has access to previously unknown works that Daphne Du Maurier created in the early years of her work: “Rendezvous and Other Stories”. The new collection will present many surprises to fans of the writer's work. These short stories were written in the 20-30s and 40-50s. 14 stories will surprise you with a rich genre and plot diversity. Here the author's love for the Gothic entourage, theatricality in the spirit of Chekhov, fairy tales and parables, satire, as well as terrible and intense intrigue will manifest itself. 12 stories have been translated into Russian for the first time. We wish the reader to have a good time, plunging into the world of Daphne du Maurier.

Interesting facts from the life of the author

• Father dreamed of having a son, and another girl was born. Therefore, Daphne in her younger years created a “second self”, male. She even wrote part of her novels on behalf of men.
• The house in Fowey where she lived is described in Rebecca as Manderley. It now belongs to the family of her son Christian.
• House inKilmarte is featured in the novel Shore House and has become a landmark in Cornwall.
• A staunch Royalist, she was awarded an MBE in 1969 and promoted to the rank of Dame Commander.
• She was not a public person and did not like to give interviews.
• There was a lot of gossip about the writer's lesbian nature, which both close relatives and the author of the biographical book Margaret Foster completely reject.
• Canadian company Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited produces Du Marier brand cigarettes. This production began in 1929 with the permission of Daphne's father to cover his additional taxes.

Instead of afterword

Dumaurier Daphne tries not to impose clear and precise assessments. It does not fall into the "morality" inherent in bad, tabloid literature, but, on the contrary, causes a desire for active empathy, sympathy for the main characters and the situation described in the work. Daphne Du Maurier writes books in such a way that you can always feel what is called the elusive shades of the human soul. Subtle, seemingly insignificant details are extremely important for creating in the reader's mind the images of the main and secondary characters of the writer's works. In general, like every good, great writer, Du Maurier Daphne does not create insignificant heroes, they all matter in the patterned canvas of her narratives.