Daphne was born in 1907, grand-daughter of the brilliant artist and writer George du Maurier, daughter of Gerald, the most famous Actor Manager of his day, she came from a creative and successful family.

She began writing short stories in 1928, and in 1931 her first novel, 'The Loving Spirit' was published. It received rave reviews and further books followed. Then came her most famous three novels, 'Jamaica Inn', 'Frenchman's Creek' and Rebecca'. Each novel being inspired by her love of Cornwall, where she lived and wrote.

We're helping The du Maurier Festival Society to raise money whenever we shop online - could you do the same?

It's very simple - just click this banner to register and shop with over 2000 well known retailers like Amazon, Argos, M&S, eBay and many more. Whenever you buy something, the retailer makes a donation to The du Maurier Festival Society. They've helped other causes raise over £2,000,000 so it really does work.

We'd be really grateful if you could use easyfundraising too. It won't cost you a penny extra to shop through easyfundraising and you can even save money with special offers and voucher codes.

So please make a difference to The du Maurier Festival Society and take a look at easyfundraising today.

On Sunday 6th March, the TV Bookclub on More4 featured The Doll, a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier, which Virago will publish in May. Click HERE to see the programme (forward to about 5 minutes for the part on du Maurier). There are interviews with Daphne du Maurier's son, Kits Browning, and with Ann Willmore, a du Maurier expert and owner of Fowey bookshop Bookends, who rediscovered five of these stories.

There were also articles about the collection in The Telegraph and in the Bookseller.

Most of the stories in this collection were written when du Maurier was in her early twenties, before the publication of her first novel, The Loving Spirit. Many have only recently been rediscovered and some have never been published before in the UK.
  More...

Bret Hawthorne sets off in pursuit of discovering the Cornwall from which Daphne Du Maurier drew so much inspiration for her writings. Novels such as Frenchman's Creek, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin Rachel, and of course Rebecca have become as much a part of Cornwall as its granite cliffs and windswept moors. In this new book the author follows in the footsteps of the author to discover the actual locations which inspired her. With direct reference to her writing and through specially taken photographs the reader is taken on a tour of the real-life places, often of outstanding beauty, which were chosen as a background to the novels, places which often played an important role themselves in bringing alive Du Maurier's enduring work.   More...

"I think Daphne sometimes became fascinated by the sound of words and rhythm of phrases occasionally to the detriment of their meaning. This always seems to me one of the charms of her writing, because it contributed to the music of her prose. I have no documentation whatsoever to support this remark but I feel in my bones that it is true. Some passages from The King's General, where Daphne describes the countryside nearby Menabilly, seem to me particularly mellifluous."

So wrote Sheila Hodges, Daphne's editor and friend for over 40 years. This triggered in Festivalgoer Collin Langley the idea of creating a record of favourite du maurier lines. Immediately, webmaster John Baxendale set-up a new page on the du Maurier website: www.dumaurier.org/favourites   More...

In case you have missed it, we have been accumulating a number of films and videos on this site, which will be of interest. The content is freely available via YouTube and include the entire 1940 film "Rebecca", directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.

Click HERE to go to Films and Videos.

These pages were first set up in 1996 for all fans of Daphne du Maurier around the world - now attracting around 50,000 visits every month. If you wish to be kept informed of the latest news and events associated with her work, you are invited to sign up as a Member - its free and you will have privileged access to this site.

If you have any comments or enquiries, members may use the Guest Book to post messages