Interesting Facts

Daphne du Maurier’s first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931 and her last, Rule Britannia, in 1972.  She was at the peak of her fame during the 1950’s, being described, when My Cousin Rachel was published, as ‘the highest paid woman writer in Britain’. 

There are few other women writers of that era who remain as popular today as Daphne du Maurier.  She was a great story teller but there is a special something about her writing that means it remains fresh and relevant today.  There has been an interest in Daphne from the beginning of her writing career and this only seems to increase with the passage of time.

On these pages we plan to surprise you with facts that you might not already know about Daphne du Maurier and her writing, and about members of her family and people associated with her.  If you have an interesting fact please let us know so that we can include it here and share all the information we can with those who are interested.

• A series of Daphne du Maurier related blogs from Stephen Alexander
• Boy Browning and the Olympic Games
• A Correspondence between Daphne du Maurier and Denys Val Baker
• Villainesses, Femmes Fatales, Matriarchs and Muses: Du Maurier's Heroines
• Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca as Gothic
• Rule Britannia, the novel by Daphne du Maurier that in 1972 "saw" Brexit – An Article by Barbara Boneschi
• The Beginning of the End: The Prologue and Epilogues of Hungry Hill and The Glass-Blowers – A Lecture from the du Maurier International Conference, Le Mans.
• Rebecca, the musical, Charing Cross Theatre, London – A Review
• Du Maurier in Le Mans by Setara Pracha
• Rhododendrons at Manderley and Menabilly
• Remembering Collin Langley
• Come Wind, Come Weather, Wartime Short Stories by Daphne du Maurier
• Reading Rebecca as Gothic
• Gothic Literature and the place that Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca takes in the genre.
• A Watercolour by George du Maurier
• Daphne du Maurier Museum at Jamaica Inn – Spring 2023
• Life, Legend and Landscape: the Autobiographical Sub-text and Historical Background to Castle Dor by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and Daphne du Maurier by Jane Prince
• US Armed Services Editions of Daphne du Maurier's novels
• A look at the Daphne du Maurier related blogs written by Jo Wing
• Isla - The Rook with a Book
• Another Trespasser In the Menabilly Woods
• Edwardian Children to Modern Women: The Friendship of Foy Quiller-Couch, Daphne du Maurier, Clara Vyvyan and Oenone Rashleigh by Jane Prince
• Postcard from Haworth by Chris Main
• The Doll by Daphne du Maurier – some background information and a Podcast
• Reading and Re-Reading Daphne du Maurier: how books change us by Serena Trowbridge
• Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II
• The Ulterior Feminism of Rebecca by Melissa Julianne Severn
• University of Exeter Special Collections Archive – significant new acquisitions from the Maureen Baker-Munton Auction
• Maureen Baker-Munton (1922–2013) - a short essay inspired by the sale of her archive of Daphne du Maurier related material.
• Musician Davey Hal brings us his new CD, Helford Honeymoon, inspired by his love for Daphne du Maurier and her writing
• Gertrude Lawrence and the du Mauriers
• Early performances of Rebecca, the play Daphne du Maurier adapted from her novel of the same name
• HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh 1921 – 2021
• General Browning’s Car Makes a Reappearance
• Milton Hall - The House that inspired Manderley
• Questions, answers, and snippets of information shared through the Daphne du Maurier website
• A Sucessora (1934, The Successor) by Carolina Nabuco and other books that tell a similar story
• Collecting Daphne du Maurier
• The Society of Analytical Psychology Zoom Event, on the film and short story of The Birds, with Rupert Tower - 22nd November 2020
• A round-up of the articles that we published on the Daphne du Maurier website surrounding the new adaptation of Rebecca
• Clonmere Revisited by Chris Main
• A letter from Daphne du Maurier explaining some short stories
• A new look at the inspiration for that illusive character: Echoes of Rebecca – by Chris Main.
• Coronation Guest Chairs belonging to Daphne du Maurier and General Browning
• Daphne du Maurier, Alec Guinness, and the London Library
• Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things
• The Society of Analytical Psychology Screening of the 1959 adaptation of The Scapegoat and panel discussion with Rupert Tower – 2nd February 2020
• Rebecca’s boat-house wasn’t where we thought it was!
• The Take-over Bid – a working title for Daphne du Maurier’s last novel, and its prediction of Brexit
• Don’t Look Now: Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s short story
• Pirates of the Caribbean film named after a line in Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
• The Society of Analytical Psychology Screening of Hitchcock's Rebecca and panel discussion with Rupert Tower - 2nd December 2018
• Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938)
• Rebecca at 80
• Daphne as researcher – The King’s General
• Daphne du Maurier’s appearances in other writers’ work
• Daphne du Maurier and Muriel Spark – two literary Dames
• Daphne du Maurier in Country Life magazine
• My Cousin Rachel and West Horsley Place: Bringing Du Maurier’s Novel to Life by Laura Varnam
• Daphne du Maurier – 1920s photograph surprise
• Rebecca and Bradshaw’s Railway Guide
• du Maurier language and nicknames
• Daphne du Maurier’s short stories made into film
• Rule Britannia – published in 1972
• Manderley Castle
• Daphne du Maurier and the poet William Butler Yeats
• An article by Gerald du Maurier