It’s been a couple of years since I took part in HeavenAli’s annual Daphne du Maurier Reading Week (the last time was with a review of My Cousin Rachel; this year, links are being hosted by Liz here).
My last-minute and meagre contribution comprises an attempted reread (which ended up being a skim) of Rebecca for book club last month, and a partial, ongoing read of Margaret Forster’s cracking biography of DDM.
Rebecca (1938)
I must have first read this in my early twenties, and remembered it as spooky and atmospheric. I had completely forgotten that the action opens not at Manderley (despite the exceptionally famous first line, which forms part of a prologue-like first chapter depicting the place empty without its master and mistress to tend to it) but in Monte Carlo, where the unnamed narrator meets Maxim de Winter while she’s a lady’s companion to bossy Mrs. Van Hopper. This section functions to introduce Max and his tragic history via hearsay, but I found the first 60 pages so slow that I had trouble maintaining momentum thereafter, especially through the low-action and slightly repetitive scenes as the diffident second Mrs de Winter explores the house and tries to avoid Mrs Danvers, so I ended up skimming most of it.
However, it was satisfying to rediscover the Jane Eyre parallels and there are deliciously chilling scenes, like with Mrs Danvers at the window and the way she then sabotages her young mistress at the costume ball. This was one of four rereads for book club already this year, which has the benefit of reducing pressure and sometimes increasing the comfort-read factor. We have two Rebeccas in my book club, so it seemed an appropriate choice. Others found the book as gripping as ever, with one member reading it in a day thanks to long hospital waits. Would you believe, I hadn’t at all remembered the truth of what happened to Rebecca! So there was that surprise awaiting me. In our discussion we remarked that though this has the trappings of a romance novel or mystery (e.g. see my dreadful paperback cover above!), it also has enduring literary weight – it won the National Book Award, for instance.
Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster (1993)
I read my first work by Forster, My Life in Houses, last year, and adored it, so the fact that she was the author was all the more reason to read this when I found a copy in a library secondhand book sale. I started it immediately after our meeting about Rebecca, but I find biographies so dense and daunting that I’m still only a third of the way into it even though I’ve been liberally skimming.
So far I have noted: du Maurier’s artistic pedigree, including her grandfather’s authorship of Trilby and her parents meeting through stage acting; her frank engagement in sexual activity, and presumed bisexuality (so far only evident through a requited crush on a teacher at her French finishing school, though perhaps there will be more to come); her first publications of short stories (“inspired by her three favourite short story writers, Maugham, Mansfield and Maupassant”) and the early novels, including one from a male point of view; her close relationship with her father and the crushing blow of his death; her determination to escape London for Cornwall; and her marriage to a soldier and ambivalent motherhood.
The last chapter I got to was all about the success of Rebecca. Though the critical reaction was generally favourable, reviewers also deemed it melodramatic … fair?
#DDMReadingWeek
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I have read Rebecca several times and always find it atmospheric. I have read a biography of Du Maurier but didn’t realize there was one by Margaret Forster.
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I’m not sure I would have picked up the biography had I not recognized Forster’s name. I’d like to read more of her books.
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Yes, me too. I know I’ve read something by her. I just don’t remember what it is. Oh, I think it was Lady’s Maid.
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Duh, it was actually that biography! It must have had a different cover, because I thought I’d read another one. I just looked it up on my own blog. Now I feel silly.
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You and other bloggers have caused me to realise I haven’t read any DdM for – quite literally – years. And I plan to put that right. Thanks! No, I can’t remember quite a few important details in Rebecca either …
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She’s a reliable author. I hope you’ll find something in your library system that appeals.
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I’m sure. Though I currently have nine books out. This is chicken feed for you I know. But not for me!
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I love that the truth about Rebecca came as a surprise on a reread 😄 I had the Margaret Foster biog in an enormous hardback and recently decided I was probably never going to read it, and culled. Regretting already, of course!
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I hardly ever remember the endings of novels, even when they involve twists or big reveals.
Isn’t that always the way! The lesson is, keep all the books 😉
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Forgetting the salient point of a thriller plot is one of my (un)superpowers, so I’m pleased to learn I’m not alone!
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I have literally started keeping a record of what happens at the end of a novel (if it’s dramatic/important) in my ‘notes and quotes’ computer file.
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Hah! Brilliant–I may need the same thing…
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Rebecca is still a comfort read for me, which no doubt has something to do with memories of prior readings of it. I’ll have to keep the Forster biography in mind, I’m interested in finding a good life of DDM.
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As a fellow writer, I think Forster was sensitive to how the life affected the work and vice versa.
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I reread Rebecca in the past year or two, and discussed it at a book club meeting, yet I can’t remember a thing that happens! I should try to find a film version to watch.
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There’s been a fairly recent UK version for TV or film. My book club didn’t rate it, though.
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Huh, I also don’t remember the ending of Rebecca… isn’t that great though? For the rereading possibilities… I have an edition with a tie-in cover from the 1979 BBC series, I may have to dig that up…
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I think I probably remember movie plots more clearly than book endings. Apparently the Hitchcock version of this really changed the plot.
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Read Rebecka many years ago, but saw the new film not that long ago. It is amazing how she manages to give us a very dark, dangerous and mysterious atmosphere at the beginning of the book. It is very well done. The light at the end of the tunnel is great and you just wonder what you were afraid of. I think DDM often does this in her books. She leaves the reader in doubt of their own senses. Like in Cousin Rachel for example.
I have read Foster’s bio on DDM, excellent.
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My Cousin Rachel was a great one.
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