Manderley Forever

Having grown up with Daphne Du Mauriers books especially Rebecca and Frenchman,s Creek I was fascinated to read this wonderful biography of her life.
So well written and easy to read
Written with so much compassion it made the reader feel honoured to be let into the inner areas of Daphne,s life.
I would recommend this book to any lover of her work.

I requested this book from the offerings on NetGalley on a whim. I just knew the name Daphne du Maurier, but absolutely nothing about the woman or her books. At first, the author's use of the present tense in the narrative was unappealing, but it gradually grew on me. I couldn't put the book down. It's an engaging overview of du Mauriers life. It made me want to learn more about the woman.

I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This first biography of Daphne du Maurier written in French, though now translated back into English, owes much to the author’s fiction background though in an entirely positive sense. This is a book heavy on atmosphere and character. De Rosnay’s ability to create fictional characters helps her to bring du Maurier to life on the page. This is not a biography that just lists dates and facts, it takes the information and weaves it into a beautiful story with fully realised characters. It does not shy away from the more challenging elements of du Maurier’s character but despite this you end up feeling very affectionate towards her, which makes it little wonder her family co-operated with and seem to have been pleased by this biography.
Daphne du Maurier was a fascinating character, whose life definitely held enough interest to make a biography worthwhile. From her privileged childhood where the muse was starting to take hold of her, to her career as a critically underappreciated - though hugely popular - novelist, her obsessive love of Cornwall and Menabilly, her complicated though deeply loving relationship with her family, her passion for her writing and her deeply private nature, all of these offer rich material for de Rosnay to work with. For du Maurier fans this offers a fascinating insight into how her novels came to life, where her inspiration came from, and how she was haunted by the spectre of Rebecca when every subsequent book was published – as a friend once told her, the critics would never forgive her for having written the hugely successful Rebecca.
This is the kind of book that leaves you yearning to re-read the subject’s books. This is a wonderful portrait of an author only just starting to be properly valued.

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself reading more slowly than usual so I wouldn't miss any details. And I frequently went back and re-read paragraphs to better comprehend some of Daphne's actions and decisions.
I was fascinated by the insight into what inspired Daphne's stories; the houses, the trips, the people and the experiences. The descriptions of the houses, gardens, water and scenery were lush. I also enjoyed getting to know Daphne's family--although the numerous nicknames were sometimes confusing.
Like many readers, I read "Rebecca" years ago and loved it and often think of the opening sentence about Manderley. Now I want to read it again, along with several other Daphne duMaurier books that I missed.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the Publishers at NetGalley for review.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25042551-manderley-forever" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Manderley Forever" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1433056805m/25042551.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25042551-manderley-forever">Manderley Forever</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/305400.Tatiana_de_Rosnay">Tatiana de Rosnay</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1888379449">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The only book that I have read, written by Daphne Du Maurier, is Rebecca, yet it left such an impression on me!<br />I so enjoyed this biography of this author, learning of her family, her loves, the way her writing took form, the stories behind the writing.<br />I have now added several novels and a couple short story collections of Ms. Du Maurier's to my list of books to read. I was quite taken with her, from reading about her!<br /><br />I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author Tatiana de Rosnay for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

I was really looking forward to this book as I really like Daphne DuMaurier and am participating in a buddy read of several of her books. We're currently reading [book:The Flight of the Falcon|18869977] so I thought this would be a perfect addition to the discussion. I was disappointed.

The author really never brought DuMaurier alive for me. It was like she was holding her at arm's length, examining while not really getting close. I think the problem may be that it was written in French and perhaps the translation made it seem stiffer than it really was. I am not sure. It also explains why there were so many paged devoted to the problems of translating DuMaurier into French and a rather in depth discussion of French translators. I really didn't care but the French author did.

DuMaurier came from a wealthy, artistic family. Her grandfather was an author and her father was a famous stage actor. Materialistically the family wanted for nothing. She was the middle of three sisters and described as the most beautiful, talented, and witty. She was sent to a French boarding school in her teens where she had her first lesbian experience with a teacher. She would go on to have several lesbian relationships and ended up marrying a high ranking military man. He was so high up that both Prince Phillip and Princess Elizabeth came to their house for lunch at different times.

She had three children, 2 girls and one boy and highly favored the boy. She basically ignored the girls while they were growing up because they interfered with her writing. She also had a frosty relationship with her husband and had separate bedrooms. She only saw him on week-ends since he worked in London and she felt the only place she could write was in her beloved home in Cornwall.

The author also discusses in great detail that she had an alter ego, a man. She feels more like a man than a woman and the author divides her works into those the man wrote and those the woman within her wrote. I have no idea if this is true or how the author would know but she spends an extraordinary amount of time discussing this topic.

DuMaurier wrote some wonderful books that have passed the test of time. I really don't need to know the details behind it all. It's like in "The Wizard of Oz" when they pull the curtain back and you see the Wizard. She doesn't come off very likable in this biography. I quibble how the author supposedly knows certain things. Did DuMaurier really lie on her death bed cursing Rebecca DeWinter for critics not taking her seriously? Somehow I doubt it.

Thank you, Net Galley, for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

When I saw that Tatiana de Rosnay was writing a biography about Daphne du Maurier, I was immediately interested in reading it. I can’t say I was necessarily a du Maurier fan, having only read Rebecca and seen Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of The Birds. Nevertheless, I found the idea of her biography intriguing, especially in the hands of de Rosnay, who grew up admiring du Maurier’s work .

Born to a life of privilege, du Maurier was exposed to literature and the arts early on. She realized at a young age that she wanted to write. It was in her early twenties that her first novel became published.

I was mesmerized by the story from this point on. Driven by a compulsive need to write and a desire to be self-supporting, du Maurier continued to write short stories, novels and screen-plays throughout her lifetime. There is no doubt that de Rosnay was able to accurately convey her struggles and triumphs along the way--both personally and professionally.

Manderley Forever is a very well written biography. De Rosnay manages to capture du Maurier’s complex and fascinating personality and does it with such respect and objectivity. It was interesting to learn what was happening in du Maurier’s life as she wrote each novel and how she developed her characters and story lines. Thanks to de Rosnay, I am inspired to read several more of du Maurier’s novels, which will be all the more meaningful now that I know what inspired the stories, the characters and the settings.

I highly recommend Manderley Forever for fans of du Maurier and for those who have a desire to learn more about her. With a new movie version of My Cousin Rachel due out this summer, there could not be a better time to read about Daphne du Maurier. Manderley Forever would also be a great pick for book clubs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Five Star Review!!

I was excited to receive a pre published copy of Manderley Forever by Tatiana De Rosnay from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. Manderley Forever gave me the opportunity to learn about the story behind her most famous novel. This is a detailed biography, quite long at nearly 500 pages, but worth the time.

Highly Recommended!

I loved this book and reviewed it on my website, www.gabriellawest.net, along with the Ruth Franklin biography of Shirley Jackson.

It was so clear that du Maurier was in charge of her life, sexuality and marriage in a way that Jackson wasn't. This made the book a pleasure to read.