Knowra Daphne du Maurier Daphne du Maurier Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) was an English novelist and playwright whose fiction often combines suspense, psychological complexity, and vivid settings.
Rebecca : A 1938 novel in which a young bride confronts the legacy of her husband’s first wife at Manderley. This Gothic suspense novel became du Maurier’s most famous work.
Gothic fiction : A mode of fiction that uses threatening settings, secrets, and heightened emotion to create fear or unease. Her novels adapt Gothic atmosphere to modern domestic and psychological conflicts.
Gerald du Maurier : An English actor and theatre manager, and Daphne du Maurier’s father. His theatrical career connected her upbringing to the stage and performance.
Cornwall : A county in southwestern England, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. Its coast, history, and local lore recur throughout her fiction.
Rebecca (1940 film) : A 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and fixed Manderley in popular culture.
Jamaica Inn : A 1936 novel about a young woman drawn into a smuggling operation on the Cornish coast. Its isolated setting and criminal plot helped establish her reputation for suspense.
Unreliable narrator : A narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted because of limited knowledge, bias, or deception. Uncertain narrators make the truth behind her characters’ suspicions difficult to settle.
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch : An English writer and critic who taught at the University of Cambridge. His mentorship encouraged her early writing and strengthened her bond with Cornwall.
Menabilly : A historic estate near Fowey in Cornwall, rented by Daphne du Maurier for many years. The estate helped inspire Manderley, the imposing house at the center of Rebecca.
The Birds (1963 film) : A 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film loosely based on Daphne du Maurier’s short story. Its radical changes show how freely cinema transformed her source material.
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