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
The Loving Spirit The Loving Spirit The Loving Spirit was the first novel of Daphne du Maurier and was published in 1931 by William Heinemann. The book takes its name from a poem by Emily Brontë. Daphne du Maurier began work on the book in October 1929 at Ferryside, the du Mauriers' holiday home in Bodinnick, Cornwall. Ferryside is close to the harbour town of Polruan and opposite Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall. The novel tells the story of the Coombe family over four generations starting with Janet Coombe, Joseph Coombe, Christopher Coombe and Jennifer Coombe. The book is based on