The du Mauriers by Daphne du Maurier, reviewed by Eva Leung
The UK first edition, hardback of The du Mauriers by Daphne du Maurier
The UK first edition, paperback of The du Mauriers by Daphne du Maurier
Genre: Biography, Fictional Biography
Original Publication: 1937
Young Louise Busson du Maurier spends the first fifteen years of her life in London before moving to Paris with her mother and her siblings, including Louis-Mathurin Busson du Maurier, who would become, like their long-lost father Robert, a dreamer and an inventor. With few skills to recommend herself, Louise gives English lessons to make a living. Little does she know the profession will lead her – and, more importantly, her brother Louis-Mathurin – to cross paths with Ellen Clarke, the daughter of Mary Anne Clarke – the notorious mistress of the Duke of York.
And thus continues the family tale of the du Mauriers during the 19th Century, as Daphne du Maurier dramatises and retells the story of her forebears.
Imagine discovering a sequel to one of your beloved stories penned by your favourite writer, who has actually passed away decades ago. This is how I feel reading The Du Mauriers and realising it can, in fact, be read as a sequel to Mary Anne, a fictionalised biography of the author's great-great-grandmother, and to The Glass-Blowers, the family saga about the author's French forebears, especially the father of Louise and Louis-Mathurin, Robert-Mathurin Busson du Maurier.
I have read Mary Anne and The Glass-Blowers multiple times as two novels that document the first half of Mary Anne Clarke's life story and the family tale of the first du Mauriers, respectively – but I never realised the continuation of Mary Anne's story with her children, as well as Louis-Mathurin's son George (Kicky), can be found in The Du Mauriers, for The Du Mauriers is categorised as biography, while both Mary Anne and The Glass-Blowers are classified as fiction. It is, however, Daphne du Maurier's intention for this family history to be read like a novel, and it does.
This book is a gemstone for du Maurier readers like me. I feel like Daphne du Maurier is still alive, still writing, and has just published her newest work, a sequel to two of her other works. I wish I had read it earlier.
© Eva Leung August 2024.