Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Manderley Forever is a very well written biography. De Rosnay captures du Maurier’s personality and does it well. It is interesting to see how du Maurier’s life shaped her novels and her characters.. I will be recommending this book. Thanks again for letting have a chance to read it.

A new biography of Daphne du Maurier, best selling author who is probably best known for Rebecca. The author researched du Maurier's life in depth, including reading her journals and interviewing her children. As a fan of du Maurier, I did find the content interesting since I knew little of du Maurier's life, and I'm a fan of de Rosnay, but overall I found myself rather bored and set this aside often. De Rosnay's personal reflections at the beginning of each chapter displayed a personal passion for the subject and her writing shined in those passages, but her use of the present tense in the narrative about du Maurier's life was distracting, almost annoying.

The subject matter is fascinating -- why would a beautiful young woman long to be a boy, why would she enter into a rather bland (if not loveless) marriage, and why was her writing so amazingly haunting? I enjoyed learning about her childhood, her family, and her life, but too often the writing took me out of the narrative. I just expected more from de Rosnay.

Thanks to Negalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

What an excellent read. I loved learning about the life of Daphne Du Maurier through
such a well written, compelling book. The first half of the book was more tightly written
and a more lyrical read than the last half which tended to get bogged on details and meander
a bit. The author carefully researched du Maurier's life and personally went to the places
she lived. Her descriptions took the reader to these places. A great book even though it
did become a bit tedious at times.

I love de Rosnay. I love du Maurier. This book was a winner for me before I even started reading it. What an excellent biography. I knew very little of du Maurier's life before reading this, so it was quite a fascinating read.