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Daphne du Maurier

ダフネ・デュ・モーリア

Daphne du Maurier

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1907-05-13 （24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, England）
Died
1989-04-19 （Par, Cornwall, England） age 81
Nationality
United Kingdom
Languages
English
Religion
Church of England
Residence History
Cannon Hall, Hampstead (London) → Menabilly, Fowey, Cornwall → Kilmarth near Par, Cornwall

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Playwright, Biographer, Short story writer
Active Years
1931-1989
Affiliations
Mebyon Kernow (Cornish nationalist party)
Influenced By
Wilkie Collins, George du Maurier
Influenced
Alfred Hitchcock, Nicolas Roeg, Contemporary gothic/suspense writers

Awards

National Book Award (U.S.) — Favorite Novel
1938
Work: Rebecca
Category: favorite novel
Organization: American Booksellers Association / National Book Awards
Result: winner
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
1969
Organization: Order of the British Empire
Result: honor

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Rebecca

1938 Literary fiction / Gothic

A young wife struggles under the shadow of her husband's first wife, Rebecca, at the grand Manderley estate. The novel is a psychological suspense about memory, identity and control.

Memory and identityJealousy and controlGothic atmosphere
Adaptations
  • [Film] Rebecca / Alfred Hitchcock (1940)

Jamaica Inn

1936 Literary fiction / Thriller

A young woman moves to Cornwall and becomes embroiled in smuggling and violence centered on the Jamaica Inn, exposing dark local secrets and tensions.

Hidden local corruptionCrime and secrecyIsolation
Adaptations
  • [Film] Jamaica Inn / Alfred Hitchcock (1939)

The Birds (short story)

1952 Short story / Horror

A short story in which birds inexplicably begin attacking people in escalating and violent ways, exploring nature's revolt and irrational terror.

Nature as terrorVulnerability of civilizationAbsurdity
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Birds / Alfred Hitchcock (1963)

Don't Look Now (short story)

1971 Short story / Psychological suspense

Set in Venice, the story follows a grieving couple and blends loss with ominous premonitions; the film adaptation was noted for its unsettling mood and symbolism.

LossPremonition and coincidenceBoundary between reality and illusion
Adaptations
  • [Film] Don't Look Now / Nicolas Roeg (1973)

Bibliography

  • The Loving Spirit (1931)
  • I'll Never Be Young Again (1932)
  • Jamaica Inn (1936)
  • Rebecca (1938)
  • Frenchman's Creek (1941)
  • Hungry Hill (1943)
  • The King's General (1946)
  • My Cousin Rachel (1951)
  • Mary Anne (1954)
  • The House on the Strand (1969)
  • Rule Britannia (1972)

Adaptations

  • Numerous film, stage and television adaptations (notably Rebecca, The Birds, Don't Look Now, My Cousin Rachel, Jamaica Inn)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Restrained gothic realismCharacter-driven psychological narrationMoody, atmospheric prose
Recurring Motifs
Shadows of the pastCoastal and maritime settingsWomen's interiority and social positionUncertainty and doubt

Health

  • Heart failure
    1989（死因）
    Died of heart failure in 1989 at home; ended her creative activity.

Legacy

Du Maurier achieved international popularity by blending gothic elements with psychological suspense; many works have been repeatedly adapted for screen. Initially dismissed as popular fiction, her work later gained enduring literary recognition.

Academic Societies

  • Scholarly communities in literature
  • Cornwall studies groups

Archives

  • University of Exeter Special Collections (Daphne du Maurier papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Selected for the 1996 Royal Mail 'Women of Achievement' British stamp series.
  • Continued references in TV, film and novels (e.g. influence on character naming in the TV series Hannibal).
  • Her Cornwall settings (Fowey, Menabilly) influenced local cultural tourism.

Quotes

  • Du Maurier was described as "a mistress of calculated irresolution. She did not want to put her readers' minds at rest. She wanted the riddles to persist."
    Source: Kate Kellaway, The Observer (quote cited in profiles) (2007)

Trivia

  • Although made a Dame (DBE) in 1969, she rarely used the title.
  • Featured on a 1996 Royal Mail 'Women of Achievement' stamp.
  • Many of her novels are set in Cornwall; she lived for many years in Cornwall.
  • Her ashes were scattered off the Cornwall coast; she was cremated privately by request.
  • Rebecca won the 1938 U.S. National Book Award (favorite novel).