Du Maurier, Brexit and a Cornish Rebellion
Daphne du Maurier’s last novel, Rule Britannia, prefigures Brexit. Britain votes to leave the Common Market, the government enters a US/UK alliance with the States, and American naval ships arrive in St Austell Bay. But in the clay area, local resistance quickly mounts. When du Maurier came to live in pre-war Cornwall, she had been drawn above all by the landscape. But The King’s General shows her growing awareness of Cornish history, and by 1969 she was ready to join Mebyon Kernow. What did she really think of the Cornish? What did they think of her? Dr Ella Westland, author of Reading Daphne, traces the novelist’s changing portrayal of the Cornish and will be in conversation with Cornishman Bert Biscoe. Together, they are ready for a lively conversation with the audience. If you are a Cornish reader/lover with rebellion in your heart, come and share your views.