We hope the example of Daphne's family will encourage you to post on this webpage your favourite lines other than the universally well-loved opening to Rebecca. Perhaps you'll be inspired to re-read her books and discover other lines with a special meaning for you.

Virago Press has published almost thirty of Daphne's books in paperback with a delightful hardback edition of Vanishing Cornwall. These have introductions by established authors, some of whom have presented at our Festival and submitted their own favourite lines below.

If you have already REGISTERED as a Member, please use the SUBMIT form to send your favourite lines to us, where they will be reviewed by Ann Willmore.

"Your Favourite Lines" is based on an original idea by Collin Langley.

Jessica Gardner
The du Mauriers

The sea at Dover was whipped with a white foam, and the packet-boat rocked uneasily at her berth beside the wharf. The little knot of passengers stood huddled together on the quay, postponing as long as possible the departure. The chalk cliffs of English leant with supreme security against the grey menace of the sky. Gulls darted to the sleek harbour water with fretful cries. Already in the wet air there was the flavour of fish, and stale food, and that indescribable boat smell, pitchy and sour, that assails the sensitive nostrils of those who must embark against their will.
The du Mauriers, Ch.3, p.21, Virago (2004).

This passage from The Du Mauriers, a fictionalised biography of family history, represents the moment of departure from England to France of the Clarke family, including Mary Anne (Daphne du Maurier's great-great grandmother) and Ellen (her great-grandmother). In a few pages, Ellen will see for the first time a little boy called Louis. She'll meet Louis-Mathurin Busson du Maurier again later in the book in Paris and, with their marriage, the du Maurier dynasty is founded. Their son, George du Maurier, was the famous Victorian artist and novelist and grandfather to Daphne. The Du Mauriers may not be her best-known book, but the family archives held at the Special Collections of the University of Exeter reach right back to the early nineteenth-century, with evidence of the real lives of Mary Anne, Ellen, Louis and George du Maurier. In this book, Daphne du Maurier weaves together imaginative and documentary evidence to create a dramatic narrative of the family history that meant so much to her. For me, it brings the history evidence in the archive to life. Jessica Gardner.

Dr Jessica Gardner is Head of Special Collections at the University of Exeter. AW.