Manderley has become mistress of Manderley, senses an atmosphere of doom about it, due to the death of Max's first wife (the titular Rebecca), and it is hinted that she haunts the estate. Childhood visits to Milton Hall, Cambridgeshire, home of the Fitzwilliam family, influenced the descriptions of Manderley, especially the interior. She told the 10th Earl Fitzwilliam in a letter that when she wrote "Rebecca" 20 years later, the interior of Manderley was based on her recollection of the rooms and 'big house feel' of Milton in the First World War. The adult du Maurier's Cornish home near Fowey, called
Daphne du Maurier time". In later life, she wrote non-fiction, including several biographies such as "Gerald", her father's biography. "The Glass-Blowers" traces her French Huguenot ancestry and vividly depicts the French Revolution. "The du Mauriers" traces the family's move from France to England in the 19th century. "The House on the Strand" (1969) combines elements of "mental time-travel", a tragic love affair in 14th-century Cornwall, and the dangers of using mind-altering drugs. Her final novel, "Rule Britannia" (1972), satirises resentment of British people in general and Cornish people in particular at the increasing U.S. dominance of Britain's affairs. Du Maurier wrote three plays.