Fiction Tuesday- The Doll

The Author
Dame Daphne du Maurier (Lady Browning) 1907 - 1989, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
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.-source

These are the lost stories of Daphne du Maurier, the author of Rebecca.

“Boredom is a pleasing antidote to fear.”

—	Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca

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Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca

“She smiled and pinched my arm, and I thought about being placid, how quiet and comfortable it sounded, someone with knitting on her lap, with calm and unruffled brow. Someone who was never anxious, never tortured by doubt and indecision, someone who never stood as I did, hopeful, eager, frightened, tearing at bitten nails, uncertain which way to go, which star to follow.”

—	Daphne du Maurier Rebecca, p. 100-101

Before she wrote Rebecca, the novel that would cement her reputation as a twentieth-century literary giant, a young Daphne du Maurier penned short fiction in which she explored the images, themes, and concerns that informed her later work. Originally published in periodicals during the early 1930s, many of these stories never found their way into print again . . . until now. Its the total collection in one volume.

“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.”

—	Daphne du Maurier (1907 - 1989)

Janet McTeer, Geraldine Somerville and Malcolm Sinclair as Gertrude Lawrence, Daphne du Maurier and Noel Coward in the BBC biopic, Daphne (2007).

Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.  - Daphne du Maurier

Tales of human frailty and obsession, and of romance gone tragically awry, the thirteen stories in The Doll showcase an exciting budding talent before she went on to write one of the most beloved novels of all time. In these pages, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore revealing a dark story of jealousy and obsession, a vicar coaches a young couple divided by class issues, and an older man falls perilously in love with a much younger woman—with each tale demonstrating du Maurier’s extraordinary storytelling gifts and her deep understanding of human nature.-Amazon

“Men are simpler than you imagine my sweet child. But what goes on in the twisted, tortuous minds of women would baffle anyone.”

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Rebecca , Daphne du Maurier

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Rebecca , Daphne du Maurier 

These are great stories to find out what was really on a woman's mind during the times that Daphne was alive. Its a way to look back to see how much life has changed and how much it really hasn't.-Ivy

 “We are all ghosts of yesterday, and the phantom of tomorrow awaits us alike in sunshine or in shadow, dimly perceived at times, never entirely lost.”

—	Daphne du Maurier

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