This, like the 1930s Mini-Challenge, was more like an invitation than a Challenge because I’ve been wanting to read more du Maurier for a couple of years now. The Challenge in this was whether or not I could be reasonable about my reader’s expectations, because I have about 10 of her books (mostly vintage Penguin pocketbooks that I picked up last winter) all begging for attention.
The Challenge runs from May 13, 2010 to April 19, 2011, so I figured that opting for the Dame Daphne combo package (which allows for short stories, novels, books and/or films) was a safe bet. And, in the meantime, I can hope that I will manage more. I’ve only read two novels and one biography (by Margaret Forster), so I’ve got lots of great options. I’d love to hear if you have particular favourites.
Fiction
The Loving Spirit (1931)
I’ll Never Be Young Again (1932)
The Progress of Julius (1933) (later re-published as Julius)
Jamaica Inn (1936) ***
Rebecca (1938)
Rebecca (1940) (play—du Maurier’s own stage adaptation of her novel)
Happy Christmas (1940) (short story)
Come Wind, Come Weather (1940) (short story collection)
Frenchman’s Creek (1941)
Hungry Hill (1943) ***
The Years Between (1945) (play)
The King’s General (1946)
September Tide (1948) (play)
The Parasites (1949)
My Cousin Rachel (1951)
The Apple Tree (1952) (short story collection, AKA Kiss Me Again, Stranger)
Mary Anne (1954) ***
The Scapegoat (1957)
Early Stories (1959) (short story collection, stories written between 1927–1930[14])
The Breaking Point (1959) (short story collection, AKA The Blue Lenses)
Castle Dor (1961) (with Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch[15])
The Birds and Other Stories (1963) (republication of The Apple Tree[16])
The Glass-Blowers (1963)
The Flight of the Falcon (1965)
The House on the Strand (1969)
Not After Midnight (1971) (short story collection, AKA Don’t Look Now[17]) ***
Rule Britannia (1972)
The Rendezvous and Other Storie” (1980) (short story collection)
Non-fiction
Gerald (1934)
The du Mauriers (1937) ***
The Young George du Maurier (1951)
The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë (1960)
Vanishing Cornwall (includes photographs by her son Christian)(1967)
Golden Lads (1975)
The Winding Stairs (1976)
Growing Pains -— the Shaping of a Writer (1977) (a.k.a. Myself When Young -— the Shaping of a Writer)
Enchanted Cornwall (1989)
