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
The Loving Spirit from the Fowey side of the ferry crossing. Nearby Lanteglos church is where Janet Coombe (Slade) was married and where Janet and other family members are buried. Daphne du Maurier was married at the same church in 1933 to Frederick Browning who had decided to visit Fowey having read the book "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,