Manderley Forever

A Biography of Daphne du Maurier

By: Tatiana de Rosnay, Sam Taylor - translator

Narrated by: Charlotte Wright

The nonfiction debut from beloved international sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay: her bestselling biography of novelist Daphne du Maurier.

“It's impressive how Tatiana was able to recreate the personality of my mother, including her sense of humor. It is very well written and very moving. I’m sure my mother would have loved this book.” — Tessa Montgomery d’Alamein, daughter of Daphné du Maurier, as told to Pauline Sommelet in Point de Vue

As a bilingual bestselling novelist with a mixed Franco-British bloodline and a host of eminent forebears, Tatiana de Rosnay is the perfect candidate to write a biography of Daphne du Maurier. As an eleven-year-old de Rosnay read and reread Rebecca, becoming a lifelong devotee of Du Maurier’s fiction. Now de Rosnay pays homage to the writer who influenced her so deeply, following Du Maurier from a shy seven-year-old, a rebellious sixteen-year-old, a twenty-something newlywed, and finally a cantankerous old lady. With a rhythm and intimacy to its prose characteristic of all de Rosnay’s works, Manderley Forever is a vividly compelling portrait and celebration of an intriguing, hugely popular and (at the time) critically underrated writer.

DDM a life

Excellent narrator, great examination of the writers life in all its ups and downs. I enjoyed the novel-like approach.

Mispronounced Cornish towns such as Fowey and St, Austell. Annoying. Get a coach.

Just as above. If you can’t pronounce the Cornish towns names correctly, why are you narrating this?

Well Done

I was thoroughly enchanted with this book. It turns out I was a fan for many years and never knew it.

Yuck.

So disappointed. Breathless narration cloying and in portions of the book downright inappropriate.

The author's choice of writing style is, she claims, cinematic. Perhaps it doesn't translate into English. For whatever reasons, the book seems disorganized and the vocabulary lurches between 21st century colloquial and late 19tth- early 20th century elegance leaking from letters and formal writing of the duMaurier family and circle. This is frustrating and distracting.

I am going to request my credit or money back.