13 May 2023
On This Day
13 May 2023 Cheryl

13 May 1907: Daphne du Maurier is born

Cannon Hall where du Maurier spent much of her childhood

Tod introduced Daphne du Maurier to the stories of Katherine Mansfield when she was in her teens. Later Daphne discovered that at that time, Katherine and her husband, John Middleton Murry, had been living just a few minutes away from Cannon Hall. From the bedroom Daphne shared with her sister, she would notice the light from their back window and, without knowing the identity of its inhabitants, would wave to it each evening as she went to bed. [1]

Renowned British author, Daphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907, in London, England.

She was the second daughter of Sir Gerald du Maurier, a prominent actor and manager, and his wife, Muriel, an actress. Her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist. Coming from a family with a rich literary and theatrical background, du Maurier was exposed to the world of storytelling and performance from a young age.

Daphne and her two sisters grew up at Cannon Hall, Hampstead, the family’s London residence, and spent summers at their home in Fowey, Cornwall, where they also lived during the war years. Cornwall would later become a significant source of inspiration for many of her novels, particularly its rugged landscapes and atmospheric settings.

The sisters had a somewhat sporadic education with a variety of schools and governesses. Maud Waddell, always known as Tod, had the biggest influence on Daphne. She encouraged her to explore a wide range of literature, understood her, and became a lifelong friend, even becoming a governess for her own three children at Menabilly.

It was during her teenage years that du Maurier’s talent for writing began to flourish. She started submitting short stories to magazines, and her work was well-received. Encouraged by this early success, she continued to hone her craft and eventually published her first novel, The Loving Spirit, in 1931, when she was just 24 years old.

Daphne du Maurier’s fiction rapidly became popular, not just for its author’s name, but for the power of its storytelling. Her literary career would go on to cover a wide range of genres, including romance, suspense, and historical fiction, and she became known for her atmospheric settings, complex characters, and gripping storytelling.