Book 38 - Margaret Forster "Daphne du Maurier"
Margaret Forster "Daphne du Maurier" (Arrow)
Although this biography took a while to get through, I am very glad that I persevered. Margaret Forster's honest appraisal of the author's life and works not only sheds more light on some of my favourite novels, like Rebecca and The Glass Blowers, but has inspired me to read futher titles from Du Maurier's oeuvre.
Forster's unflinching analysis of Daphne's eccentric character and autobiographical writing might offend some tried and true fans, but I think learning about Du Maurier's 'dual personalities' (not in the clinical sense) and intriguing relationships has helped me to understand and appreciate her stories better. In fact, I can sort of identify with her, which is inspiring, if not also slightly worrying! Daphne Du Maurier was 'a listener and an observer rather than a talker', who had always been 'a lonely soul' who 'resented the interruption of her solitary life'. She wrote from 'some sort of emotional inner life', investing characters like the second Mrs De Winter and Philip Ashley with her own interior passions and fears. Sadly, Daphne's fierce independence and solitary routines slipped into an unbalanced middle-age and lonely later years, but her imagination lives on.
I recommend this to any reader of her novels.
Although this biography took a while to get through, I am very glad that I persevered. Margaret Forster's honest appraisal of the author's life and works not only sheds more light on some of my favourite novels, like Rebecca and The Glass Blowers, but has inspired me to read futher titles from Du Maurier's oeuvre.
Forster's unflinching analysis of Daphne's eccentric character and autobiographical writing might offend some tried and true fans, but I think learning about Du Maurier's 'dual personalities' (not in the clinical sense) and intriguing relationships has helped me to understand and appreciate her stories better. In fact, I can sort of identify with her, which is inspiring, if not also slightly worrying! Daphne Du Maurier was 'a listener and an observer rather than a talker', who had always been 'a lonely soul' who 'resented the interruption of her solitary life'. She wrote from 'some sort of emotional inner life', investing characters like the second Mrs De Winter and Philip Ashley with her own interior passions and fears. Sadly, Daphne's fierce independence and solitary routines slipped into an unbalanced middle-age and lonely later years, but her imagination lives on.
I recommend this to any reader of her novels.