Why a Booktrail?
1900s: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .”
Rebecca
What you need to know before your trail
A young girl works as a lady’s companion but on a trip to the South of France, she meets the enigmatic Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. They fall in love and Maxim soon proposes marriage – enchanted as he is by his new bride.
From the glamour of Monte Carlo, the two newly weds return to the DeWinter home in Cornwall. Max seems different now, quiet and brooding. The housekeeper Mrs Danvers seems particularly keen to keep up the memory of Maxim’s dead wife Rebecca.
Life for the second Mrs De Winter is far from easy and the ghost of Rebecca seems reluctant to leave her alone.
Travel Guide
From the very first line, maybe the most famous in all of literature, the cliffs of Cornwall come into view. Manderley is the fictional but stunning estate of the de Winter family and the new home of his young and naive bride(who remains unnamed in the novel)
Manderley is a lush stately home and perhaps one of the most famous fictional literary locations in England, It was where Maxim and his first wife Rebecca lived, Rebecca who was stunning, well-loved by everyone particularly Mrs Danvers who seems to wish Rebecca alive again and in the place of the new Mrs De Winter. Rebecca apparently died in a tragic boating accident off the Cornish coast – the weather and the waves took her life from this beautiful coastline but her spirit has been kept alive ever since. Manderley is still her home and Maxim’s second wife is never allowed to forget it, living in her shadow
Manderley
This was inspired on a real place – Mennabily where Daphne rented and stayed at. The author Justine Picardie apparently stayed in the lodge when writing her book ‘Daphne’ based on the famous writer. The rest of the Menabilly area just needs to be explored quite frankly as does the National Trust area of Fowey just down the coast.
Fowey – Daphne Du Maurier country
A visit to nearby Fowey is vital for the Daphne Du Maurier Literary Centre Ltd waits in South Street for your visit. Along the coast again in Lanteglos Church is where the lady herself married and this is a literary location in its own right as it featured in her first novel, The Loving Spirit as Lanoc Church.
Where Next?
