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A review by redbluemoon
Manderley Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay
5.0
This year, I read [b:The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography|28501482|The Invention of Angela Carter A Biography|Edmund Gordon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466343851s/28501482.jpg|48654559]. I didn't think I would be so moved by the life of a woman I didn't know, but, at the end, I was crying like I lost a friend of mine. Well, it was the same with Manderley Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay!
I love [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386605169s/17899948.jpg|46663] and I would like to read more books by Daphne du Maurier; but I also wanted to discover her life, how she came to write her books, what was her inspiration. I was not disappointed! Tatiana de Rosnay swept me away in England, in the twentieth century, during World War II, after the war, and so on! I was in the book, and didn't want to finish it! I discovered Daphne, a solitary woman, completely obsessed by her imaginary world, capable to lock herself in her "office" and write write write until the book is completed! But, the author never judges her, never comments her solitary ways, or the fact that she could have neglected her family: writing was her job, her passion, her way of living. It was like breathing to her, it allowed her to discharge herself of everything inside her.
I loved to discover her family, her friends, her relationship with all of them. She seems to have been a fascinating woman, intimidating sometimes, but also joyous, full of life! She suffered from the lack of recognition she got; she always was considered a romantic author, even if she wasn't at all! Rebecca was both a blessing and a curse; ironically, Mrs. de Winter haunted her all her life after she gave her birth!
Since I read Rebecca, I'm obsessed with finding my own Manderley. To discover Daphne's obsession with Menabilly was both comforting and frightening. This house cast a spell on her, and she can't get rid of it throughout her life! She prefers "Mena" to people, and I can definitely understand her sometimes!
Tatiana de Rosnay doesn't spoil her books - contrary to Edmund Gordon, Angela Carter's biographer! She doesn't speculate; she explains that everything she says is from Daphne's memoirs, or other biographies by different authors, like her own daughter, Flavia Leng ([b:Daphne du Maurier: A Daughter's Memoir|50252|Daphne du Maurier A Daughter's Memoir|Flavia Leng|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1170367923s/50252.jpg|49098]), or the one by Margaret Forster ([b:Daphne du Maurier|559546|Daphne du Maurier|Margaret Forster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320492390s/559546.jpg|546713]). She travelled to London, to Menabilly, to Kilmarth, in a kind of pilgrimage, and that was also moving. Moreover, I loved her writing!
There were some things that I missed there, even if I don't exactly know what; it's strange to say. Like, sometimes, I was like: "I would like to know how she feels now", or "There is something missing here, and I don't know what!" But it didn't spoil my enjoyment and my pleasure to read this book!
The ending was as moving as for Angela Carter at the beginning of the year; it's like I lost a friend. I cried like a baby: the last years of Daphne du Maurier's life were so hard…
I love [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386605169s/17899948.jpg|46663] and I would like to read more books by Daphne du Maurier; but I also wanted to discover her life, how she came to write her books, what was her inspiration. I was not disappointed! Tatiana de Rosnay swept me away in England, in the twentieth century, during World War II, after the war, and so on! I was in the book, and didn't want to finish it! I discovered Daphne, a solitary woman, completely obsessed by her imaginary world, capable to lock herself in her "office" and write write write until the book is completed! But, the author never judges her, never comments her solitary ways, or the fact that she could have neglected her family: writing was her job, her passion, her way of living. It was like breathing to her, it allowed her to discharge herself of everything inside her.
I loved to discover her family, her friends, her relationship with all of them. She seems to have been a fascinating woman, intimidating sometimes, but also joyous, full of life! She suffered from the lack of recognition she got; she always was considered a romantic author, even if she wasn't at all! Rebecca was both a blessing and a curse; ironically, Mrs. de Winter haunted her all her life after she gave her birth!
Since I read Rebecca, I'm obsessed with finding my own Manderley. To discover Daphne's obsession with Menabilly was both comforting and frightening. This house cast a spell on her, and she can't get rid of it throughout her life! She prefers "Mena" to people, and I can definitely understand her sometimes!
Tatiana de Rosnay doesn't spoil her books - contrary to Edmund Gordon, Angela Carter's biographer! She doesn't speculate; she explains that everything she says is from Daphne's memoirs, or other biographies by different authors, like her own daughter, Flavia Leng ([b:Daphne du Maurier: A Daughter's Memoir|50252|Daphne du Maurier A Daughter's Memoir|Flavia Leng|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1170367923s/50252.jpg|49098]), or the one by Margaret Forster ([b:Daphne du Maurier|559546|Daphne du Maurier|Margaret Forster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320492390s/559546.jpg|546713]). She travelled to London, to Menabilly, to Kilmarth, in a kind of pilgrimage, and that was also moving. Moreover, I loved her writing!
There were some things that I missed there, even if I don't exactly know what; it's strange to say. Like, sometimes, I was like: "I would like to know how she feels now", or "There is something missing here, and I don't know what!" But it didn't spoil my enjoyment and my pleasure to read this book!
The ending was as moving as for Angela Carter at the beginning of the year; it's like I lost a friend. I cried like a baby: the last years of Daphne du Maurier's life were so hard…