The official Daphne du Maurier website, approved by her Estate
Book Illustrator Brian Barfoot brings us beautiful drawings illustrating the novella – The Birds
Here at the Daphne du Maurier website we are absolutely delighted to introduce you to book illustrator Brian Barfoot, and to share with you a series of beautiful drawings that he has created illustrating the novella The Birds by Daphne du Maurier.
Image reproduced with permission of Curtis Brown Ltd, London, on behalf of The Chichester Partnership. Copyright ©1938 The Chichester Partnership.
Book illustrator Brian Barfoot, in collaboration with Daphne’s literary agent Curtis Brown, has created a series of drawings to honour her chilling novella The Birds. Daphne’s suspenseful story about nature wreaking havoc upon mankind centres around a rural Cornish farmer, Nat Hocken, and his family. The tale is set post Second World War therefore Brian has produced his hand-drawn illustrations in monochrome pencil and ink to evoke the mood of the original narrative’s late 1940s timeline. Brian’s series of images currently comprises six, however once complete it will total ten, with four more illustrations being added next year.
To see the first six illustrations please click on Photo Albums in the header on the home page, click on Brian Barfoot - The Birds.
The next four illustrations will be added in 2027.
To see more of Brian’s work, here is the link to his website: https://brianbarfoot.com
Coincidentally, Brian shares a 37 year friendship with Hollywood actress Tippi Hedren.
Tippi famously played the lead role of Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. The movie inspired by Daphne’s original novella (Brian’s all-time favourite read) has a completely different storyline. So Brian has often teased Tippi by stating, 'I prefer the book to the film!'
Brian Barfoot and Ann Willmore, October 2026.