Finally, another book to add to my “2009 Favorites” list, though I can’t say this book will appeal to everyone. Did you read Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, when you were younger? Or, like my friend Nora, did you read it last week? Just be sure to do so before you begin Daphne or much of the depth and significance will escape you.
Like several other books I’ve read this year, Daphne is a mashup of fact and fiction, and it shifts back and forth between the past and the present. The chapters set in the past are a fictionalized account of several years in Daphne du Maurier’s life, years during which she embarked on an ambitious biography of Branwell Bronte, the little-known brother of the famous Bronte sisters Charlotte and Emily. It’s also a time of marital upheaval for Daphne, and of doubt about her own abilities, direction, and sanity.
Another set of chapters tell the story of the researcher that du Maurier has hired to help her with the Branwell Bronte book. This character (John Alexander Symington, who is real, not fictional) was involved in a scandal concerning missing Bronte manuscripts. He is unstable and of questionable value to du Maurier; his chapters add another layer of dread to the story.
The (purely fictional) chapters set in the present are narrated by a young Oxford PhD student who is researching du Maurier’s life during the period she wrote the Bronte biography, and following the trail of Symington and his shenanigans. Thus we see many of the same episodes from two vantage points. This present day narrator has much in common with the narrator of DuMaurier’s book Rebecca; both are young, unsophisticated, and married to distant older men who may or may not be hiding something. Parallels between these two narrators abound, and it’s interesting to spot them.
In her heyday Daphne du Maurier sold millions of books, but was dismissed by her contemporary critics as a lightweight purveyor of gothic-type fiction for women. Yet du Maurier proved to have staying power and enjoyed a long and fruitful career. Modern critics are busily reshaping her image. As anyone knows who has read her books, she is a wonderful writer who created enduring characters, fascinating locales, and unsettling stories. Her writing is top-notch: erudite and atmospheric. In Daphne, Justine Picardie has paid homage to du Maurier’s legacy with similarly excellent writing and a haunting story.
(Book 41, 2009)
ETA: Mutual blog love.
4 comments:
I read this book and loved it. Another I just read recently covered some very interesting connections with Daphne, her cousins and Mr. Barrie!
I have never read Du Maurier before but I have been getting lots of blogger encouragement lately to do so. Plus I follow Justine Picardie's blog so it seems I need to pull out Rebecca and then go find Daphne.
It's very odd but I have read virtually every other Daphne Du Maurier novel or short story but I have never yet read 'Rebecca' something that I must remedy and soon.
I got 'Daphne' from the library when it came out in hardback and was very much enjoying it when it had to go back unfinished so when the paperback came out I bought a copy - but it's still on the shelf unopened which is typical of me!
I fit the read Rebecca as a teen profile and have heard good things about this book. Have you read "Mrs. de Winter" by Susan Hill? I believe she was approached by the estate to write a sequel. I thought it was not a great book and her portrayal of the second Mrs. de W is just as frustrating as she is in Rebecca.
However, "Rebecca's Tale" by Sally Beauman is a great sequel with with 4 people telling the same story and one is Rebecca herself via diaries discovered by one of the characters. It is quite a surprise to discover a different Rebecca than the one Du Maurier gave us.
My favorite Du Maurier has always been The Scapegoat.
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