I have adored the books of Daphne du Maurier since reading Rebecca as a teen, The House on the Strand in college and My Cousin Rachel very recently. According to Tatiana de Rosnay's biography of du Maurier, she would have despised my reasons for loving each of them--their gothic-romanticism and atmosphere of suspense. She wanted to be considered a serious writer of literature and worried that her literary reputation couldn't survive fame as a best-selling author.

This biography reads like a novel and is as entrancing as one. The woman herself certainly comes alive in these pages--her loves, her triumphs and disappointments, her fascination with the du Maurier genealogy and the homes she lived in that set the scene for so many of her best stories (de Rosnay tries to view all of them from the outside, following in the author's footsteps).

I was amazed to read that she lived as far into modern times as she did; somehow she seems a woman of an earlier era, when she was being her most productive.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an arc of this delightful, well-written biography of one of my favorite authors. It has inspired me to read more of her books and short stories in the near future.

Daphne du Maurier was the author of Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and, though many don't realize it, the short story The Birds, which was the inspiration for the Hitchcock film of the same name. Du Maurier had a rich artistic heritage. Her grandfather George du Maurier was the author of the famous Punch, and the antisemitic bohemian milieu novel Trilby, in which the iconic character Svengali, a rogue Jewish hypnotist, hypnotizes an innocent, tone-deaf, half-Irish Trilby into a singing diva. (That ends badly, of course.) Her father was the actor Gerald du Maurier, her mother was the actress Muriel Beaumont, niece of author Wm. Comyns Beaumont. To say that this was a storied family and that Daphne led a colorful life would be an understatement. De Rosnay gives us a sense of du Maurier's life, her loves, her literary work, and her children. She captures some of the wit and emotion that fueled du Maurier's work, especially some of her early work with its gothic literary tone. De Rosnay also manages to describe some of the questions about du Maurier's sexuality without making the assumptions that have been controversial in the 1993 Margaret Forster biography of du Maurier, which suggested that she was secretly a lesbian. De Rosnay's includes of some of du Maurier's writing that had been directed toward Ellen Doubleday, who was the object, at a minimum, of infatuation for her. Some of the passages quoted made me wonder if, rather than simply lesbian tendencies, she felt a strong sense of gender complexity. Du Maurier overtly referenced what can be seen through a present-day perspective as a mixed-gender identity which was largely kept secret from others. I appreciate the fact that de Rosnay lets us draw our own conclusions about du Maurier's sense of identity without applying labels that aren't ours to assign.

It is a shame that such a fascinating life and legacy is given a peculiar narrative treatment in biographical form. While I understand that de Rosnay wanted to immerse readers of this biography in du Maurier's life, the manner in which she has done it, writing in the present tense and with the voice of an omniscient narrator living the events with du Maurier, from her birth to her death, is disconcerting (perhaps, as it was meant to be?). It made for a jarring read, especially with the book opening with de Rosnay's journey to the du Maurier family home in Westminster, in 2013. Although source material is reported and the book is extensively footnoted, unfortunately, it reads like a novelization of du Maurier's life rather than a credible biography. In this respect, de Rosnay has done herself a disservice. I am unsure how much may have been lost in translation from the original French but the underlying structure of the biographical narrative leaves a discerning reader with questions about veracity and fictional elaboration.

This sensitive and evocative biography of the wonderful Daphne du Maurier is a must-read for fans of her novels. De Rosnay walked in her footsteps, talked to her descendants and reimagines her life in this beautifully-written book. I could hardly put it down!

De Rosnay vividly describes the important places in Du Maurier's life, including beautiful and calm Hampstead where she grew up, romantic Paris and the dramatic cliffs and sailboats of Fowey in Cornwall. This is where she found Menabilly, the famous house in Rebecca, and the scenery and history which formed the background to most of her novels. The author also skillfully brings to life the people who helped to form her character, such as Gerald, her sparkling actor father who, unfortunately was unfaithful to his wife and descended into drunkenness.

This is a lovely book to read even though Du Maurier had much tragedy in her life. It is an excellent study of the famous writer.

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

I suppose I'd formed a mental image about the author of Rebecca, My Cousin Rachael, and the House on the Strand, all books I'd read by novelist Daphne du Maurier. My assumptions were off. I never suspected that the author, according to this biography by Tatiana de Rosnay was not an attentive mother to her daughters (at least, for many years), or always a faithful wife, And I didn't know she'd had multiple affairs with both sexes. I was also struck by her obsession with living in a rental house that inspired her fictional Manderley. (Her attachment to the home reminded me a lot of author Shirley Jackson's strong bond with houses, as related in her recent biography). This was a fascinating read about an author whose personal life wasn't always commendable. I'd also never realized how much she was pigeon-holed into the "gothic romance" genre during her lifetime. I'd certainly recommend this for anyone who has enjoyed her books.

really enjoyed the author's forward where she talks about not wanting to simply report Daphne du Maurier's life but to really show who she was. Daphne du Maurier wasn't just the author of Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin Rachel, The Birds, and countless other books but she was a fascinating and complex woman in her own right.

However, the writing style of the book just didn't work for me. I enjoyed the author's commitment to trying to show a more personal view of du Maurier but there was a certain sing songy quality of the prose that I struggled with. I'm not sure if it's an issue with translation but 472 pages of this were a challenge. While Daphne du Maurier is a woman worth learning more about this biography wasn't the way to do it.

This book was full of great information about the life of Daphne Du Maurier. It's interesting to see what influenced her and motivated her to write the books and plays. She was definitely a multidimensional person. She had many interesting experiences and secrets which enabled her various story lines. Surprisingly, the writing in this book was a little dry to me and although it was interesting, I had a difficult time engaging in it. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Having grown up with Daphne Du Mauriers books especially Rebecca and Frenchman,s Creek I was fascinated to read this wonderful biography of her life.
So well written and easy to read
Written with so much compassion it made the reader feel honoured to be let into the inner areas of Daphne,s life.
I would recommend this book to any lover of her work.

I requested this book from the offerings on NetGalley on a whim. I just knew the name Daphne du Maurier, but absolutely nothing about the woman or her books. At first, the author's use of the present tense in the narrative was unappealing, but it gradually grew on me. I couldn't put the book down. It's an engaging overview of du Mauriers life. It made me want to learn more about the woman.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This first biography of Daphne du Maurier written in French, though now translated back into English, owes much to the author’s fiction background though in an entirely positive sense. This is a book heavy on atmosphere and character. De Rosnay’s ability to create fictional characters helps her to bring du Maurier to life on the page. This is not a biography that just lists dates and facts, it takes the information and weaves it into a beautiful story with fully realised characters. It does not shy away from the more challenging elements of du Maurier’s character but despite this you end up feeling very affectionate towards her, which makes it little wonder her family co-operated with and seem to have been pleased by this biography.
Daphne du Maurier was a fascinating character, whose life definitely held enough interest to make a biography worthwhile. From her privileged childhood where the muse was starting to take hold of her, to her career as a critically underappreciated - though hugely popular - novelist, her obsessive love of Cornwall and Menabilly, her complicated though deeply loving relationship with her family, her passion for her writing and her deeply private nature, all of these offer rich material for de Rosnay to work with. For du Maurier fans this offers a fascinating insight into how her novels came to life, where her inspiration came from, and how she was haunted by the spectre of Rebecca when every subsequent book was published – as a friend once told her, the critics would never forgive her for having written the hugely successful Rebecca.
This is the kind of book that leaves you yearning to re-read the subject’s books. This is a wonderful portrait of an author only just starting to be properly valued.

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself reading more slowly than usual so I wouldn't miss any details. And I frequently went back and re-read paragraphs to better comprehend some of Daphne's actions and decisions.
I was fascinated by the insight into what inspired Daphne's stories; the houses, the trips, the people and the experiences. The descriptions of the houses, gardens, water and scenery were lush. I also enjoyed getting to know Daphne's family--although the numerous nicknames were sometimes confusing.
Like many readers, I read "Rebecca" years ago and loved it and often think of the opening sentence about Manderley. Now I want to read it again, along with several other Daphne duMaurier books that I missed.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the Publishers at NetGalley for review.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25042551-manderley-forever" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Manderley Forever" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433056805m/25042551.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25042551-manderley-forever">Manderley Forever</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/305400.Tatiana_de_Rosnay">Tatiana de Rosnay</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1888379449">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The only book that I have read, written by Daphne Du Maurier, is Rebecca, yet it left such an impression on me!<br />I so enjoyed this biography of this author, learning of her family, her loves, the way her writing took form, the stories behind the writing.<br />I have now added several novels and a couple short story collections of Ms. Du Maurier's to my list of books to read. I was quite taken with her, from reading about her!<br /><br />I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author Tatiana de Rosnay for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

When I saw that Tatiana de Rosnay was writing a biography about Daphne du Maurier, I was immediately interested in reading it. I can’t say I was necessarily a du Maurier fan, having only read Rebecca and seen Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of The Birds. Nevertheless, I found the idea of her biography intriguing, especially in the hands of de Rosnay, who grew up admiring du Maurier’s work .

Born to a life of privilege, du Maurier was exposed to literature and the arts early on. She realized at a young age that she wanted to write. It was in her early twenties that her first novel became published.

I was mesmerized by the story from this point on. Driven by a compulsive need to write and a desire to be self-supporting, du Maurier continued to write short stories, novels and screen-plays throughout her lifetime. There is no doubt that de Rosnay was able to accurately convey her struggles and triumphs along the way--both personally and professionally.

Manderley Forever is a very well written biography. De Rosnay manages to capture du Maurier’s complex and fascinating personality and does it with such respect and objectivity. It was interesting to learn what was happening in du Maurier’s life as she wrote each novel and how she developed her characters and story lines. Thanks to de Rosnay, I am inspired to read several more of du Maurier’s novels, which will be all the more meaningful now that I know what inspired the stories, the characters and the settings.

I highly recommend Manderley Forever for fans of du Maurier and for those who have a desire to learn more about her. With a new movie version of My Cousin Rachel due out this summer, there could not be a better time to read about Daphne du Maurier. Manderley Forever would also be a great pick for book clubs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Five Star Review!!

I was excited to receive a pre published copy of Manderley Forever by Tatiana De Rosnay from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Manderley Forever gave me the opportunity to learn about the story behind her most famous novel. This is a detailed biography, quite long at nearly 500 pages, but worth the time.

Highly Recommended!

The print was so small that it made it too difficult to read, Tried to enlarge but to no avail.

I received an e-ARC of this biography through NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Thank you.

Daphne du Maurier is not my favorite author, but I certainly enjoyed many of her novels (particularly Rebecca) and knew absolutely nothing about her as a person. This book seemed to be a way to see the woman behind the novels. This is a translation from the book originally published in 2015 in French. I think the translator, Sam Taylor, has done a superb job.

As soon as I began to read the book I was confused. This was reading more like a novel than the biographical information I was expecting. I continued on hoping I would adjust to the style and begin to enjoy it more. Sadly, the writing style simply kept getting in the way. I read a sentence in the book where author Ritiana de Rosnay states that du Maurier's biography of her father, Sir Gerald du Maurier, was not written in the classic style. I couldn't help but wonder if this planted the idea for doing something different with this book. Regardless of where the idea came from that style decision remained an impediment for me throughout the book.

I learned a tremendous amount about Daphne du Maurier and about the struggles she had with being taken seriously by her family when she began to realize at a very young age that she wanted to write. Her father was a famous actor, she lived in a world peopled by famous names we would recognize today and yet her family didn't understand how passionate she was about her need to write. I certainly never knew about her imaginary boy who lived inside her and influenced so many of the times she flaunted social dictates of her times and exhibited her independent and somewhat bohemian nature. Once du Maurier had written her first novel in the first person style with a male main character (I'll Never Be Young Again) she seemed to lose her need for Eric Avon, as if she could now openly speak as a man if she felt the need to do so.

Daphne du Maurier was an author who wrote novels which were often considered dark, brooding and somber. Her first novel was begun on October 3, 1929, when she was still a very young woman. She seems to have resented being classified as a writer of romantic fiction and especially to being compared to the Bronte sisters. Even while not enjoying this book to the fullest because I never became comfortable with the writing style I can certainly not complain about the depth of the material included. I know so much more about du Maurier now and more fully understand that her fiction is representative of the experiences she had in life.

I loved this book and reviewed it on my website, www.gabriellawest.net, along with the Ruth Franklin biography of Shirley Jackson.

It was so clear that du Maurier was in charge of her life, sexuality and marriage in a way that Jackson wasn't. This made the book a pleasure to read.

I was excited to receive a pre-pub copy of Manderley Forever by Tatiana De Rosnay from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was a book that I loved passionately as an adolescent, yet I knew nothing about the life of the author. Manderley Forever gave me the opportunity to learn about her and the story behind her most famous novel.

This is a detailed biography, quite long at nearly 500 pages, and it took me a while to get through it, yet my fascination never lagged. Du Maurier's iron-willed determination to become a writer was inspiring. I was surprised to learn how prolific she was, and how many of her works besides Rebecca have been made into films, including Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek,  and "The Birds."

Du Maurier's background as the beautiful middle sister in an upper class British family of writers and actors, her time in Paris, her colorful love life, her struggle to be taken seriously by the critics, and, most of all, her amazing, decades-long love affair with and residence in the Cornwall mansion called Menabilly, the inspiration for Manderley, all come to life thanks to the skillful writing of De Rosnay. Manderley Forever provided a sweet peak into the creative process behind Rebecca, a book so formative to me as a young reader.

Rebecca was one of my favorite books when I was a teenager so I was looking forward to learning more about its author. Unfortunately, this biography was a mixed bag for me, mostly due to de Rosnay's choices. While this is a biography, it's written in present tense and in a more fictional style, a la The Paris Wife or Loving Frank. Because of this, I was expecting de Rosnay would help us get inside of du Maurier's head and understand the motivation behind her actions. This does not happen. Indeed, de Rosnay almost glosses over some of du Maurier's more unconventional choices, like having an affair with her female school headmaster when she was a teenager. At first, it's not clear if it's just a one-sided crush and then it's confusing to figure out how the affair actually begins and then ends. Nor do we know what to think when her older male cousin hits on her (or does he do more?) when she is but 13. Perhaps if this was a straightforward biography account, this would not have bothered me but I really wanted to understand what du Maurier thought about her actions and we don't get that. It was interesting to learn more about what inspired her novels and biographies and how her writing career came to be. But this was lacking when it comes to du Maurier's personal life, particularly the distance in her marriage and how differently she related to her female vs. male children and her obsession with a mansion. Where The Paris Wife and Loving Frank excel by transporting us into the characters' lives, Manderley Forever tells us, instead of shows us, what Daphne did and saw and we are poorer in understanding as a result.

de Rosnay also chose to insert herself into the narrative. She visited every place du Maurier lived and started off those sections with her own experience of visiting those places. I could not understand what purpose this served, as it didn't add to my understanding of du Maurier and any description of grounds or houses could easily have been woven into the rest of the book. It only jerked me out of the story before jerking us back into whatever Daphne was going through.

If you want to learn more about du Maurier, you'll certainly pick up a lot of facts about her. If you're hoping to understand why she made any of her choices or decisions, you'll be left to conjecture. As a result of this book, I have a less than favorable view of du Maurier. She treated her loved ones fairly terribly, often running hot and cold and getting caught up in crushes and affairs. I don't idealize or idolize artists. I can still appreciate Rebecca for what it is but I am no closer to understanding the author who wrote it.