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Daphne du Maurier (1907 - 89) was born in London, the daughter of the famous actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and granddaughter of George du Maurier, the author and artist. She began writing short stories and articles in 1928 and in 1931 her first novel, THE LOVING SPIRIT, was published. It was the novel REBECCA that launched her into the literary stratosphere and made her one of the most popular authors of all time.
When her mother dies, Mary Yellan makes the grim journey across bleak Cornish moorland to Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience and her husband, Joss Merlyn. On arriving at the gloomy, threatening inn, with the coachman's warning echoing in her mind, she finds her aunt a cowering shadow, and her uncle a hulking, vicious brute. Even more alarming, Jamaica Inn has no guests and is never open to the public. Mary finds herself powerless to help her aunt, and is drawn unwillingly into the misdeeds of Joss and his accomplices. Even more disturbing are her feelings for Jem, a man she dare not trust ..
Many people don’t realise that Daphne du Maurier wrote non fiction and here with Golden Lads she has written a fascinating account of, brothers, Anthony and Francis Bacon’s relationship with Queen Elizabeth I, through their friendship with the Earl of Essex. Told with her magical storytelling style, a fascinating insight.
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…” is probably one of the most famous first lines from a novel and captures the readers interest immediately. What is Manderley? Why is our narrator dreaming about it? The story is relayed to us by the second Mrs de Winter who is not even given a name throughout the novel, as if to emphasise how insignificant she is compared to her predecessor, Rebecca. This book is haunting, chilling and packed full of intrigue. Who was Rebecca, why did people love her so much, was she good or evil? The narrator is constantly searching for answers to questions that no-one seems to want to answer but the truth that has been hidden for years is about to be revealed. A true classic. This collector’s edition has been produced to celebrate the centenary of Daphne du Maurier's birth.
This is du Maurier’s tenth novel and only the second where she had a male narrator. Philip Ashley is young and inexperienced in the ways of the world and this is the perspective taken on the story as it unfolds. Due to his naivety, and jealousy, he possibly misjusdges Rachel but the great thing about this book is that questions are left open on the tragic events that take place. The reader must decide for themselves quite who to believe. Set in one of Daphne’s favourite places in Cornwall, Manabilly, her descriptions of landscape are enthralling as is her powerful story telling.
Daphne du Maurier herself describes this as the only “romantic” novel she wrote. It does have a lighter story line perhaps than some of her other work but it is still a terrific swashbuckling story and does cover important themes such as the freedom and independence men had while women were constrained by responsibilities and how society felt they should behave. Dona St Columb is a feisty heroine who grabs some excitement and independence while she can, knowing only too well that this can only be shortlived. September 2009 Guest Editor Emily Barr on Frenchman's Creek by DAPHNE DU MAURIER Women escaping from their day to day lives is a theme to which I find myself returning again and again. This novel is the ultimate such story, a wildly exciting and utterly engrossing adventure. Since I moved to Cornwall I have been reading Du Maurier again, and concluding that she is not sufficiently appreciated as a fabulous, literary, exciting writer.
After the death of her mother, Mary Yellan goes to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. The isolation and wildness of the moor are so intertwined with the plotlines of fear, murder, theft, wrecking and intrigue you can feel the wind whipping around you as you read. When published this novel sold more copies in the first three months than her first three novels altogether and it is easy to see why this is such an enduring book. Dark, mysterious and thoroughly absorbing. March 2010 Guest Editor Susan Fletcher on Jamaica Inn... For all its melodrama, cliches and romance, I will always have a secret love of this book. I was in my early teens when I found it, and felt utterly transported from my bedroom in the Midlands to the rainy wilderness of Bodmin Moor. No other book had done that before, and I was deeply impressed that words could provide such a complete and tangible other world. I devoured the romance. I wanted to be Mary Yellan, trapped in her room, with Jem the handsome horse thief breaking the glass to be with her... Too wonderful for words! For all its overblown language and predictability, I remain a fan - and I know that it spurred on my own writing. I owe it a lot, I think.
A 2012 World Book Night selection.“ Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…” is probably one of the most famous first lines from a novel and captures the readers interest immediately. What is Manderley? Why is our narrator dreaming about it? The story is relayed to us by the second Mrs de Winter who is not even given a name throughout the novel, as if to emphasise how insignificant she is compared to her predecessor, Rebecca. This book is haunting, chilling and packed full of intrigue. Who was Rebecca, why did people love her so much, was she good or evil? The narrator is constantly searching for answers to questions that no-one seems to want to answer but the truth that has been hidden for years is about to be revealed. A true classic.
V sbornik "e;Ne pozzhe polunochi anglijskoj pisatel'nicy Dafny Dyumor'e, vpervye opublikovannyj v 1971 godu, voshli pyat' novell, pyat' udivitel'nyh, sovershenno nepohozhih odna na druguyu istorij. Samaya znamenitaya iz nih, "e;Ne oglyadyvajsya, legla v osnovu misticheskogo trillera anglijskogo rezhissera Nikolasa Rouga ("e;A teper' ne smotri, 1973). Drugaya, napolovinu nauchno-fantasticheskij rasskaz, napolovinu filosofskaya pritcha "e;Proryv, vpervye izdaetsya po-russki. Vse oni napisany uverennoj rukoj mastera, original'no i uvlekatel'no. Veroyatno, tochnee vsego harakter sbornika opredelyaet nazvanie rasskaza "e;Na grani: v kazhdoj istorii avtor podvodit geroev k intuitivnomu ili osoznannomu vyboru, neredko opasnomu.
"e;Traktir "e;YAmajka"e; - odin iz samyh izvestnyh romanov anglijskoj pisatel'nicy Dafny Dyumor'e (1907-1989), ee pervyj bestseller i pervaya iz ee ehkranizirovannyh knig. Segodnya roman schitayut klassikoj goticheskoj tradicii v literature XX veka, a geroinyu Mehri Jellan sravnivayut s Dzhejn EHjr. Opisannye v romane sobytiya proiskhodyat v nachale XIX stoletiya, kogda u parusnogo korablya, zastignutogo shtormom vblizi opasnyh rifov, byla odna nadezhda na spasenie - slabyj svet mayaka v tumane... V polnom sootvetstvii s zakonami zhanra osirotevshaya Mehri pokidaet rodnye kraya i edet k rodne - bezdetnoj tetushke i ee muzhu, Dzhossu Merlinu, grubomu i nelyudimomu hozyainu pridorozhnogo traktira "e;YAmajka"e;. Zavedenie pol'zuetsya durnoj slavoj, dobroporyadochnye lyudi obhodyat ego storonoj, a mezhdu tem ono zhivet kakoj-to svoej, strannoj i strashnoj zhizn'yu. Postepenno Mehri nachinaet o chem-to dogadyvat'sya, v golove royatsya uzhasnye podozreniya, no komu o nih rasskazat', komu doverit'sya? Oshibka mozhet stoit' ej zhizni.
Romanizirovannuyu istoriyu svoej sem'i Dafna Dyumor'e opublikovala v 1937 godu, v vozraste tridcati let. Do togo ona uspela napisat' biografiyu otca, anglijskogo aktera i antreprenera Dzheral'da Dyumor'e, i chetyre romana. Pisatel'nica stoyala na poroge slavy: uzhe vyshel roman "e;Traktir "e;YAmajka"e; a vsego cherez god budet izdana "e;Rebekka ee glavnyj mirovoj bestseller. Pogruzhayas' v atmosferu Evropy devyatnadcatogo stoletiya, pisatel'nica vossozdaet zhizn' svoih anglo-francuzskih predkov - ot praprababki, lyubovnicy gercoga Jorkskogo, do deda, znamenitogo romanista i hudozhnika Dzhordzha Dyumor'e. "e;V istorii polno burnyh sobytij i groznyh udarov sud'by - tut propavshij muzh, tam skandal i sudebnoe razbiratel'stvo, - no vse oni podany v forme romanticheskoj komedii i neveroyatno zanimatel'ny kak skazano v predislovii k anglijskomu izdaniyu. Dafna Dyumor'e vsegda s azartom issledovala haraktery i sud'by lyudej, tainstvennye niti, kotorymi nastoyashchee svyazano s proshlym, neizmenno obnaruzhivaya "e;prizraki povsyudu - ne blednye fantomy, gremyashchie cepyami cherez vechnost' skripyashchie polovicami v pustyh domah, a veselye teni bylogo
'Now, ill-lit, almost in darkness, the windows of the houses shuttered, the water dank, the scene appeared altogether different, neglected, poor, and the long narrow boots moored to the slippery steps of cellar entrances looked like coffins.' A slow-burning masterpiece of horror recounting a grieving couple's fateful visit to Venice, Don't Look Now is accompanied here by further short tales of desire and dread. Ten new titles in the colourful, small-format, portable new Pocket Penguins series
V sbornik "e;Randevu anglijskoj pisatel'nicy Dafny Dyumor'e (1907-1989) voshli rasskazy, napisannye v konce 1920-h - nachale 1930-h godov i v desyatiletie mezhdu 1937 i 1947 godom. Kak i vsya novellistika Dyumor'e, ehti chetyrnadcat' istorij porazhayut raznoobraziem syuzhetov i zhanrov. Vyderzhannyj v goticheskoj tradicii "e;EHskort sosedstvuet s teatral'nymi, v duhe CHekhova, "e;Primoj i "e;Prirozhdennym artistom; psihologicheskij ehtyud "e;Za zakrytoj dver'yu - s pouchitel'nym anekdotom "e;Oploshnost'; svoeobrazno obygryvayushchie formu skazki ili pritchi "e;Presvyataya Deva, "e;Adieu Sagesse i "e;Skazka - s ostrosatiricheskimi "e;Lyubovnik, "e;Randevu, "e;Angely i arhangely. Est' zdes' i harakternye dlya Dyumor'e po-hichkokovski napryazhennye istorii: "e;Panika i "e;Dolya sekundy. Iz vsekh perechislennyh tol'ko dva poslednih rasskaza ran'she uzhe izdavalis' po-russki, ostal'nye publikuyutsya vpervye.
Roman Dafny Dyumor'e (1907-1989) "e;Moya kuzina Rejchel po mneniyu mnogih kritikov, ne ustupaet proslavlennoj "e;Rebekke a v chem-to i prevoskhodit ee. EHto prekrasnyj obrazec razvitiya tradicii "e;goticheskogo i "e;sensacionnogo romana, osnovopolozhnikom kotorogo schitaetsya Uilki Kollinz: detektivnaya intriga sochetaetsya s neobychnoj lyubovnoj dramoj, razvorachivayushchayasya na fone liricheskih pejzazhej Kornuolla i zhivopisnyh kartin Italii v sorokovye gody XIX veka. S kazhdym povorotom syuzheta chitatel' vse bol'she teryaetsya v dogadkah, kto pered nim - zhertva nespravedlivyh podozrenij ili raschetlivaya intriganka i ubijca; no k kakoj by versii on ni sklonyalsya, final ego oshelomit. Izdannyj v 1951 godu roman mgnovenno stal bestsellerom i vsego cherez god na ehkrany vyshel odnoimennyj fil'm s Oliviej de Hehvilend i molodym Richardom Bartonom; v 1983 godu po romanu byl snyat televizionnyj serial.
Imya anglijskoj pisatel'nicy Dafny Dyumor'e (1907-1989) mir uznal v 1938 godu, posle vyhoda v svet romana "e;Rebekka i hotya s tekh por smenilos' ne odno pokolenie chitatelej, ee slava ne merknet. V sbornik rasskazov "e;Sinie linzy opublikovannyj v 1959 godu, voshli vosem' neobychnyh istorij. V nih avtor issleduet tonkuyu gran', razdelyayushchuyu mir real'nyj i mir voobrazhaemyj, normu i anomaliyu, igru fantazii i prestuplenie. Gde pravda, gde lozh', komu mozhno verit'? Kto sumeet uderzhat'sya u poslednej cherty? Kto perestupit ee i sdelaet shag, za kotorym posleduet sryv, krah, katastrofa, tragediya?.. Tri rasskaza sbornika - "e;Prud "e;EHrcgercoginya "e;Trofej - vpervye izdayutsya na russkom yazyke.
Imya Dafny Dyumor'e (1907-1989) mir uznal v 1938 godu, posle vyhoda v svet romana "e;Rebekka sed'moj po schetu knigi molodoj anglijskoj pisatel'nicy. Vsego zhe za dolguyu tvorcheskuyu zhizn' ona vypustila poltora desyatka romanov, neskol'ko sbornikov rasskazov (novell, povestej - v raznoe vremya Dyumor'e po-raznomu imenovala proizvedeniya svoej maloj prozy), a takzhe tri p'esy, biografii i knigu o Kornuolle. Sbornik rasskazov Dafny Dyumor'e, v 1977 godu ozaglavlennyj po znamenitoj novelle "e;Pticy vpervye byl opublikovan v 1952 godu pod nazvaniem "e;YAblonya a v 1953-m - "e;Poceluj menya eshche raz, neznakomec Pomimo shesti rasskazov, sostavlyayushchih avtorskij sbornik, v izdanie na russkom yazyke vklyuchen nikogda prezhde ne perevodivshijsya rasskaz "e;Schastlivogo Rozhdestva (1940).
Using the cover artwork of our much-loved Virago Modern Classics hardback range, these elegant porcelain mugs celebrate three of our most popular titles: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. They are a must-have for all Virago fans, and are surely the most stylish way to enjoy your morning coffee! Each mug is presented in a beautiful gift-box with corresponding artwork. The mugs are dishwasher and microwave safe. Rebecca and Excellent Women feature artwork by award-winning textile designer Neisha Crosland: www.neishacrosland.com Valley of the Dolls features artwork by textile designer and founder of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki: www.barbarahulanickidesign.com
Using the cover artwork of our much-loved Virago Modern Classics hardback range, these elegant notebooks celebrate three of our most popular titles: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. They are a must-have for all Virago fans, and are surely the most stylish way of collecting notes on your favourite books. Or maybe it will inspire you to write a novel of your own . . . Each notebook features a ribbon bookmark, high-quality paper and matching endpapers. Rebecca and Excellent Women feature artwork by award-winning textile designer Neisha Crosland: www.neishacrosland.com Valley of the Dolls features artwork by textile designer and founder of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki: www.barbarahulanickidesign.com
John and Laura have come to Venice to try and escape the pain of their young daughter's death. But when they encounter two old women who claim to have second sight, they find that instead of laying their ghosts to rest they become caught up in a train of increasingly strange and violent events. The four other haunting, evocative stories in this volume also explore deep fears and longings, secrets and desires: a lonely teacher who investigates a mysterious American couple, a young woman confronting her father's past, a party of pilgrims who meet disaster in Jerusalem and a scientist who harnesses the power of the mind to chilling effect.
'How long he fought with them in the darkness he could not tell, but at last the beating of the wings about him lessened and then withdrew . . . ' A classic of alienation and horror, 'The Birds' was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verita' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd . . .
In the bitter November wind, Mary Yellan crosses Bodmin Moor to Jamaica Inn. Her mother's dying wish was that she take refuge there, with her Aunt Patience. But when Mary arrives, the warning of the coachman echoes in her mind: Jamaica Inn has a desolate power, and behind it's crumbling walls Patience is a changed woman, cowering before her brooding, violent husband. When Mary discovers the inn's dark secrets, the truth is more terrifying than anything she could possibly imagine, and she is forced to collude in her uncle's murderous schemes. Against her will, she finds herself powerfully attracted to her uncle's brother, a man she dares not trust.
The Restoration Court knows Lady Dona St Columb to be ripe for any folly, any outrage that will alter the tedium of her days. But there is another, secret Dona who longs for freedom, honest love - and sweetness, even if it is spiced with danger. To escape the shallowness of court life, Dona retreats to Navron, her husband's remote Cornish estate. There, she seeks peace in its solitary woods and hidden creeks. But she finds instead a daring pirate, hunted by all Cornwall, a Frenchman who, like Dona, would gamble his life for a moment's joy. Together, they embark upon a quest rife with danger and glory, one which bestows upon Dona the ultimate choice: sacrifice her lover to certain death or risk her own life to save him.
On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.
A true classic of suspense in a beautiful new package for a whole new generation of readers.
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