Daphne du Maurier

"Last night I dreamt of Manderley again..." begins Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier one of the most well-loved novels of the 20th century.

Open Book looks again at her hugely popular novels to reveal the enduring qualities and appeal of her writing.

From the pirates, smugglers and bewitching Cornish wilds of Jamaica Inn and Frenchman’s Creek, to the gender politics and class commentary of Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, du Maurier’s reputation as a romance novelist misrepresented the true breadth of her work.

Octavia Bright is joined by Olivia Laing, author of The Lonely City, Funny Weather and Crudo; novelist, short story writer and Cornish resident Wyl Menmuir and Dr Laura Varnam of Oxford University, an expert on du Maurier’s life and work, to strip away some of the undermining labels she struggled to shake in her lifetime.

Book List:-

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Don’t Look Now by Daphne du Maurier
The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne de Maurier
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier
The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier
Vanishing Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
The Lonely City by Olivia Laing
Funny Weather by Olivia Laing
Crudo by Olivia Laing
The Draw of the Sea by Wyl Menmuir

Produced by Kirsten Locke

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2024.