![]() ![]() ![]() While Alfred Hitchcock's film based upon her novel proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.ĭaphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. Her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, who married her. She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, the daughter of a famous actor-manager, she was indulged as a child and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Few writers have created more magical and mysterious places than Jamaica Inn and Manderley, buildings invested with a rich character that gives them a memorable life of their own. If Daphne du Maurier had written only Rebecca, she would still be one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. ![]() By Richard Kelly - Professor of English, University of Tennessee ![]()
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