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.

Sheila Hodges
The King's General

The sea is very white and still, without a breath upon it, and only a single thread of wash upon the covered Cannis rock. The jackdaws fly homeward to their nests in the warren. The sheep crop the short turf, before they too rub together beneath the stone wall by the winnowing place. Dusk comes slowly to the Gribben hill, the woods turn black, and suddenly, with stealthy pad, a fox creeps from the trees in the thistle park, and stands watching me, his ears pricked…Then his brush twitches and he is gone…
The King's General, Ch.28, p.287, Virago (2004).

This shows Daphne's love of the countryside and her acute observation of the changing seasons and of the flora and fauna which she noticed on her walks. She is not given enough credit for her beautiful descriptions of nature.
Sheila Hodges.

Siobhan Isles
The King's General

It was thus, then, that I, Honor Harris of Lanrest, became a cripple, losing all power in my legs from that day forward until this day on which I write, so that for some twenty-five years now I have been upon my back, or upright in a chair, never walking any more, or feeling the ground beneath my feet. If anyone therefore thinks that a cripple makes an indifferent heroine to a tale, now is the time to close these pages and desist from reading.
The King's General, Ch.5, p.51, Virago (2004).

I love the challenge Honor throws down to the reader here. Her feisty wisdom pours from the lines, the paradox contained within is compelling - one MUST read on, the lines propel the narrative and the reader forward - irresistibly. Siobhan Isles.

Sue Simpson
The King's General

She reminded me of something, and suddenly I knew. I was a tiny child again at Radford, my uncle's home, and he was walking me through the glass-houses in the gardens. There was one flower, an orchid, that grew alone; it was the colour of pale ivory, with one little vein of crimson running through the petals… It was the loveliest flower I had ever seen. I stretched out my hand to stroke the soft velvet sheen, and swiftly my uncle pulled me by the shoulder. 'Don't touch it child. The stem is poisonous'.
The King's General, Ch.2, p.14/15, Virago (2004).

This quote is from the passage where Honor, as a child, meets Gartred for the first time. The King's General is my all time favourite book and it is hard to choose just one passage, but this quote has huge significance to an event later in the book, which I did not see until I re-read the book, and I think there will be many other readers who have not noticed it either. I remember at the time being full of admiration for Daphne's brilliance at adding what seems like a fairly unimportant section at first. Sue Simpson.

Flavia Leng
The King's General

September, 1653. The last of summer. The first chill winds of autumn. The sun no longer strikes my eastern window as I wake, but, turning laggard, does not top the hill before eight o'clock. A white mist hides the bay sometimes until noon, and hangs about the marshes too, leaving, when it lifts, a breath of cold air behind it. Because of this, the tall grass in the meadow never dries, but long past midday shimmers and glistens in the sun, the great drops of moisture hanging motionless upon the stems.
The King's General, Ch.1, p.1, Virago (2004).

Flavia Leng is Daphne du Maurier's daughter. CL.

Lynn Goold
The King's General

We descended the steep path to Pridmouth. The tide was low, the Cannis rock showed big and clear, and on the far horizon was the black smudge of a sail. The mill-stream gurgled out upon the stones, and ran sharply to the beach, and from the marsh at the farther end a swan rose suddenly, thrashing his way across the water, and, circling in the air a moment, winged his way out to the sea. We climbed the further hill, past Coombe Manor, where the Rashleigh cousins lived, and so down to my brother-in-law's town house on Fowey quay. The first thing I looked for was a ship at anchor in the Rashleigh roads, but none was there. The harbour water was still and grey, and no vessels but little fish-craft anchored at Polruan.
The King's General, Ch.37, p.365, Virago (2004).

My passion for Daphne du Maurier is the way she describes the landscape and the weather, as well as the stories. When I am doing a guided walk it is possible to find a quote for every occasion. As I was brought up very close by and spent much of my youth and later years walking in the area between Par and Fowey, it is easy to recognise some of the places Daphne uses in her novels. The other thing that is just wonderful is that it has changed very little in the last (I hate to say it) 60 years. I think Daphne would like the fact that it remains unspoilt.

My chosen piece is from The King's General. This is Honor leaving Menabilly for a final time.

What a wonderful description of Polridmouth! Several years ago when taking a walk that way, I stopped with the group and gave my little speech about the area and went on to read that passage. It was a clear day with a low tide and you could see the Cannis rock which I pointed out. As I started reading there was not anything in sight but then a sailing vessel appeared on the horizon, just a smudge of a sail and as I finished a swan rose from the farther end of the lake and winged its way across us! It sent a shiver down our spines and was the highlight of the day. Sadly I have never been able to repeat that experience for any group. It is something I will always remember. Lynn Goold.

Lynn is manager of the Tourist Information Centre and the du Maurier Literary Centre in Fowey. AW.

Ann Willmore
The King's General

…suddenly away from the marsh ahead of us rose a heron, his great grey wings unfolding, his legs trailing…
…The heron was now direct above my head, and the falcons lost to view, and I heard Gartred shout her triumph: 'They bind – they bind – my tiercel has her,' and silhouetted against the sun, I saw one of the falcons locked against the heron and the two come swinging down to earth not twenty yards ahead.
I tried to swerve, but the mare had the mastery, and I shouted to Gartred as she passed me, 'Which way is the chasm?' but she did not answer me. On we flew towards the circle of stones, the sun blinding my eyes, and out of the darkening sky fell the dying heron and the blood-bespattered falcon, straight into the yawning crevice that opened out before me. I heard Richard shout, and a thousand voices singing in my ears as I fell.
The King's General, Ch.5, p.50/51, Virago (2004).


To me The King's General is a very visual book and never more so that in this early scene when Honor's fate is sealed. Ann Willmore.

Sheila Hodges
The King's General

I have seen the white sea-mists of early summer turn the hill to fantasy, so that it becomes, in a single second, a ghost land of enchantment, with no sound coming but the wash of breakers on the hidden beach, where, at high noon, the children gather cowrie shells…
The King's General, Ch.28, p.287, Virago (2004).

Here is the central character of The King's General, reflecting on the countryside she knows so well, Daphne's own countryside.
I think Daphne sometimes became fascinated by the sound of words and rhythm of phrases. This always seems to me one of the charms of her writing, because it contributed to the music of her prose. I have no documentation whatsoever to support this remark, but I feel in my bones that it is true. If you have a copy of an article which I wrote some years ago for Women's History Review Volume 11, Number 2, 2002, reproduced in The Daphne du Maurier Companion, you will find various passages quoted - about nature - which seem to me particularly mellifluous. Sheila Hodges.

Sheila Hodges is well qualified to comment not just as Daphne's editor at Victor Gollancz from 1943-1981, but as author of several books including a biography of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist of Mozart's three most famous operas and contributor to music journals, e.g. The Music Review and Opera Quarterly. CL.