Daphne du Maurier Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English author and playwright. Although she is classed as a romantic novelist, her stories have been described as "moody and resonant" with overtones of the paranormal. Her bestselling works were not at first taken seriously by critics, but have since earned an enduring reputation for narrative craft. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels "Rebecca", "My Cousin Rachel", and "Jamaica Inn", and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight". Du Maurier spent much of
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.