Daphne du Maurier: a Brontëite

2007 sees the centenary of Daphne du Maurier's birth. Many plans and events are afoot. According to The Guardian,

The BBC plans a double helping: a new drama, Daphne, by Amy Jenkins and a documentary by Rick Stein, The Road to Manderley. In Fowey, Cornwall, where she spent most of her writing life, there will be a Daphne du Maurier festival between 10 and 19 May that will include talks, concerts and guided walks. There will also be a literary conference in which her son, Kits Browning, will take part. Justine Picardie has chosen this moment to reconstitute du Maurier in fiction, as a detective in her thriller Daphne, and Virago is about to publish The Daphne du Maurier Companion. (Kate Kellaway)

The article continues:

Reading du Maurier, [Sarah] Waters says, 'something chimes inside you'. She sees Rebecca as akin to Jane Eyre (and as an influence on Angela Carter in The Bloody Chamber). 'There is a lot of Bluebeard in Rebecca ... You can't believe there was ever a point where the novel didn't exist.' (Kate Kellaway)

Indeed, Rebecca has been endlessly compared to Jane Eyre. But the connection Brontë-du Maurier doesn't end there. Justine Picardie recently introduced a new edition of du Maurier's The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë and, as was mentioned in the article, she is currently working on Daphne - due in 2008 - which is a fictionalised account of du Maurier's research for Branwell's biography. Daphne du Maurier had always liked the Brontës and remained a true Brontëite until her death.

Categories: Books, Brontëites, In the News, Jane Eyre