At last, I have watched the Rick Stein BBC 2 programme about the life of Daphne Du Maurier , marking her centenary. Well done, Ricky and well done BBC, say I! It was an enchanting programme. (Sadly my IT skills abandoned me in attempting to record the subsequent docu-drama about Du Maurier).My mum comes from Fowey and we have spent many holidays down there based in Polruan. There are lots of family connections, but, then, everyone in Fowey and Polruan, quite rightly, proudly proclaims links to Du Maurier. So, I was very interested by the programme, because glimpses of Du Maurier or reflections about her life have always been few and far between.
It was fascinating to see inside Ferryside at Bodinnick, one of her homes, now owned by her son.
I was interested by DuMaurier's curiosity that she had been labelled in some places as a "romantic novelist". She said, in an interview from 1971 (which I think was with Hugh Scully of BBC 1's South-West regional "Spotlight" programme) that she only wrote one romantic novel, which was "Frenchman's Creek".
Her son also said that she got infuriated when people referred to "Hitchcock's The Birds". Not surprising that one! After all, she wrote it!
I have to say that reading more DuMaurier books is on my "to do" list. I have read "The Parasites" and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also read her memoir of her early life in Fowey, which was wonderful.
It was interesting from Stein's film to see her physical appearance over the years. When young, she was quite boyish and angular. In her later years, she had a captivating and iconic look about her, magnified by her partial seclusion. ...Just a personal view, but then that's what a blogs about, hopefully.
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