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A review by balancinghistorybooks
Manderley Forever by Tatiana de Rosnay
4.0
I love du Maurier, and she is easily one of my favourite authors. I have also really enjoyed de Rosnay's work to date, and when I found out about the French publication of Manderley Forever, I willed it to be translated into English as soon as was possible.
I love the way in which Manderley Forever is written. I found the first section particularly incredibly spellbinding. There was almost a magical quality to its prose, as well as the story it relayed. Whilst the rest of the book was undoubtedly fascinating, I do feel as though it unfortunately lost a little of its sparkle. Perhaps this is because I knew relatively little about Daphne as a child, but was well versed in her life and writing from adolescence onward. The childhood section was refreshing, I suppose, in that it held some surprises for me.
There is an undoubted admiration on de Rosnay's behalf, and the whole has been written and researched lovingly. I really liked the way in which de Rosnay drew a parallel story alongside du Maurier's biography, by going on a personal 'pilgrimage' to all of the places in which du Maurier lived and visited. De Rosnay is thorough, and presents her subject in such detail.
The section which included du Maurier's obituaries was a really nice touch, particularly with regard to the legacy which she left behind. It also drew a very fitting conclusion to the biography. The translation, too, was flawless. One can certainly tell that de Rosnay is first and foremost a novelist. I can only hope that she writes more such fantastic portraits as this in future.
I love the way in which Manderley Forever is written. I found the first section particularly incredibly spellbinding. There was almost a magical quality to its prose, as well as the story it relayed. Whilst the rest of the book was undoubtedly fascinating, I do feel as though it unfortunately lost a little of its sparkle. Perhaps this is because I knew relatively little about Daphne as a child, but was well versed in her life and writing from adolescence onward. The childhood section was refreshing, I suppose, in that it held some surprises for me.
There is an undoubted admiration on de Rosnay's behalf, and the whole has been written and researched lovingly. I really liked the way in which de Rosnay drew a parallel story alongside du Maurier's biography, by going on a personal 'pilgrimage' to all of the places in which du Maurier lived and visited. De Rosnay is thorough, and presents her subject in such detail.
The section which included du Maurier's obituaries was a really nice touch, particularly with regard to the legacy which she left behind. It also drew a very fitting conclusion to the biography. The translation, too, was flawless. One can certainly tell that de Rosnay is first and foremost a novelist. I can only hope that she writes more such fantastic portraits as this in future.