1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. A few 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: weeks ago, some friends of mine were talking about the 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,639 Speaker 1: eight novel Rebecca and how good it is. That's the 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: conversation I over oversaw slash overheard on Twitter. Uh. Somehow, 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: even though this is totally my kind of book and 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: I remember my mom having a copy of it when 9 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 1: I was in high school, I had never actually read 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: the thing. And even though I was really into Alfred 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: Hitchcock growing up, I had also never seen his film 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: adaptation beyond clips of it that are in documentaries like 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: The Celluloid Closet. And then I also missed the BBC 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: miniseries from and the Netflix adaptation that just came out 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: last year. Like somehow, I had this total void of 16 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: all Rebecca knowledge, beyond the title of the book and 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: the fact that it really seems like my kind of thing. 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: So I checked Rebecca out from the library. I read it, 19 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: I agreed with my friends about it being very good, 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: and I became immediately fascinated with its author, Daphneed Marier, 21 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: and I thought about maybe saving this episode for October, 22 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: since Rebecca was not the only Alfred Hitchcock movie to 23 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: start out with her work, and a lot of her 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: books have a very like dark and suspenseful and foreboding tone. 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: But I was too eager for this to wait until October. 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: Everybody's gonna get it now. Also, several heads up on 27 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: this episode. Uh, there is going to be some brief 28 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: discussion of incest, also a relationship between a teacher and 29 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: a student, and disordered eating. It's a trifecta we have 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: not had before. No, I feel like this is more 31 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: more our warnings than we have needed to put on 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: an episode in a while. Yeah. Uh so. Daphne du 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: Maarrier became famous thanks to her books and the adaptations 34 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: they inspired, but she was born into a family that 35 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: was already full of really prominent people. Her father, Sir 36 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: Gerald du Maarrier, was an actor and a theater manager. 37 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: He was famous enough that when he ran into trouble 38 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: with unpaid back taxes in ninety nine, he was able 39 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: to make some extra money by licensing his name to 40 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: a brand of cigarettes. Her mother, Muriel Beaumont, Lady Dumarrier, 41 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: had been an actress before she got married, and from 42 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: a young age, Daphne aspired to be like her grandfather, 43 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: George Dumarrier, who was an artist for the magazine Punch 44 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: and author of the extremely successful serialized novel Trilby, which 45 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: was adapted into a play in multiple films. The du 46 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: Marriers were also connected to various other famous and influential people, 47 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: including Peter Pan author J. M. Barry. He and Daphne's 48 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: father started working together in nineteen o two, with Gerald 49 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: becoming the first person to play Captain Hook and George 50 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: Darling and Peter Pan in nineteen o four. Daphne and 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: her sisters Angela and Jean called Barry uncle Jim, and 52 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: their cousins were the Llewellyn Davies Boys, who were a 53 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: big part of the inspiration for Peter Pan. Daphne was 54 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: the middle child of the three do Maurie daughters, born 55 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: in London on May thirteenth seven. In some ways, the 56 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: girls upbringing is a little reminiscent of the Bronte siblings, 57 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,119 Speaker 1: which previous hosts of the show covered back in. All 58 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: three were highly imaginative, concocting make believe worlds and scenarios 59 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: for themselves. This would also carry over into all three 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: sisters adult lives. Jean was an artist. Angela would also 61 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: grow up to be a novelist, although her work was 62 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: always overshadowed by her sister Daphne. The girls were mostly 63 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: educated at home, cared for by nanny's and educated by governesses. 64 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: The family had pet names for a truly everyone in 65 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: their lives. Like one of the biographies I read for 66 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: this had an index of all the pet names at 67 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: the end, they had an invented language they shared among 68 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: themselves that was almost like a code, like Wayne meant embarrassing, 69 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: a shilling was a disappointment, and Cairo was code for sex. 70 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 1: As they reached puberty, Daphne and her sisters called their 71 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: periods Robert, make it, make it French, She'll be Robert. 72 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: Being raised by governesses and educated at home was a 73 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: fairly typical upbringing for wealthy British children in the early 74 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: twentieth century, but in some ways the du Marie's upbringing 75 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: really was not typical. Gerald de Marrier seems to have 76 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: wanted sons, and in some ways he treated his daughters 77 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,679 Speaker 1: like boys, like teaching them to play cricket and box 78 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: Gerald actually told Daphne that he wished she were a boy, 79 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: and at one point wrote her a poem that included 80 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: the line if only she'd a boy. Daphne cut her 81 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: hair short, and she wore masculine clothes, and she and 82 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: her sister Jean both made male alter egos for themselves. 83 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: Jean was David Dampier and Daphne was Eric Avon, who 84 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: was dashing and full of daring do and who excelled 85 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: at sports. Gerald's relationship with his daughters struck a lot 86 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: of people as unusual, and as the girls became teenagers, 87 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: he started oversharing the details of his affairs with them. 88 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: As Daphne and her sisters started dating men, their father 89 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: seemed to become jealous of them. According to Helen Taylor, 90 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: who edited The Daphne du Marier Companion in ninety five, 91 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: Daphne du Marier told her that she and her father had, 92 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: in her words, crossed the line. This is something Taylor 93 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: reported after Dumarier's death, and it is not something that 94 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: Dumarier herself seems to have put down in writing, but 95 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: incests did become a running theme in her fiction and 96 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: a subject that people who knew her said seemed to 97 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: fascinate her, almost to the point of obsession. In an 98 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: interview she gave late in her life, she said quote, 99 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: I don't mean bed incest. I mean this thing of 100 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: sons looking for their mother's daughters looking for their fathers. 101 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: Another recurring theme in her writing was female characters who 102 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: wished that they were boys, whether it was there expressing 103 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: that wish or describing themselves as being like boys, or 104 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: being described by other characters along the lines of she 105 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: should have been a boy. And this is something that 106 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: du Maurier did write about a lot. In the context 107 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: of her own life. She described herself as feeling like 108 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: a boy in a girl's body and locking this boy 109 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: self away in a box as she grew up to 110 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: pursue a marriage and a family. Her writing also suggests 111 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: that she saw this as a kind of a duality, 112 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: envisioning herself more as a boy when she found herself 113 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: attracted to women, but more as a woman when she 114 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: was attracted to a man. Do Marie's first accounts of 115 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: her attraction to women come from her time at an 116 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: exclusive finishing school in Miudon, France, where her classmates included 117 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: heiresses and princesses. She started in January of nineteen twenty five, 118 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: and she soon met headmistress Mademoiselle Yvon, who Daphne called Ferdy. 119 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: She was thirty and Daphne was eighteen. In a letter 120 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: to a friend, Daphne wrote, quote, I've quite fallen for 121 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: that woman I told you about, Mademoiselle levonn. She has 122 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: a fatal attraction. She's absolutely kind of lured me on, 123 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: and now I'm coiled in the net. This relationship progressed 124 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: from passing notes to Daphne, accompanying her head mistress on 125 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: vacation to a spa during the summer to for non supervising, 126 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: and nursing Daphne when she had to go to Paris 127 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: in the winter to be treated for a respiratory illness. 128 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: Daphne never used the word lesbian to describe these attractions, 129 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: though she described lesbianism as quote a feeble substitute for 130 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: married life and something to get over in youth, and 131 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: in one letter called it quote that unattractive word that 132 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: begins with L, continuing that she'd tear out the guts 133 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: of anyone who described her love that way. Instead, she 134 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: referred to her quote Venetian tendencies, and framed her attraction 135 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 1: to women as the re emergence of the boyish soul 136 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: that she'd tried to shut away. Mademoiselle Yvonne was fired 137 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: without explanation, or at least without explanation that she ever 138 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,599 Speaker 1: shared with Daphne, in April of nineteen twenty six, and 139 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: Marie worried that this was because of suspicions of over 140 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: their relationship. They continued to travel through France together after this, though, 141 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: and they continued to write to one another after Daphne 142 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: went back to England. When the du mari started talking 143 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: about buying a home on the Cornwall coast, Daphne wondered 144 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: if it was an attempt to sort of tempt her 145 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,839 Speaker 1: a way from going back to France to be with 146 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: fernand The du Maurier's new home was called Fairy Side, 147 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: and when she turned twenty, Daphne was allowed to stay 148 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: there alone, and soon Cornwall became her adopted home. Many 149 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: of her works are set in Cornwall, with descriptions that 150 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: are so evocative that Cornwall has been described as a 151 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: character on its own. While in Cornwall, d Maria found 152 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: an unoccupied home called Menabilly. It was originally built during 153 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: the Tutor era, and it had been extensively remodeled in 154 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: the seventeenth century. It was part of an estate owned 155 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: by the Rashleigh family, but it was unoccupied, covered in ivy, 156 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: and falling into disrepair. Du Maria fell absolutely in love 157 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: with this home and visited it over and over. It 158 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: would eventually inspire the settings of multiple books, including Manderley 159 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: and her novel Rebecca. In a rift developed in Daphne's 160 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: relationship with fernand she wrote Fernando Letter in which she 161 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: described her experiences kissing young men, and Fernand's response was 162 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: angry and jealous. Soon after, do Marie started a relationship 163 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: with Carol Reid. He would go on to direct the 164 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine film The Third Man. Although she continued 165 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 1: to write to and visit Fernando after this their relationship. 166 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: Cooledd Mara published her first short story, called and Now 167 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: to God the Father on May fifteenth, nineteen nine. The 168 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: story appeared in The Bystander, which her uncle edited. He 169 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: published another of her short stories about a month later. 170 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: Her first novel was The Loving Spirit, written at the 171 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: Summer Home in Cornwall and published in ninety one. Do 172 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: Marie loved to walk through the countryside, and on one 173 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: of these walks she had found the wreck of a 174 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: schooner called the Jane Slade. She became fascinated with the 175 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: Slade family, researching their family history and reading through their 176 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: letters and records. In the Loving Spirit, the Slades come 177 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: the Combs in a historical saga that winds through four 178 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: generations of the family. Overall, this was a pretty conventional book. 179 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: It was not like the more avant garde and modernist 180 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: writing that people like Gertrude Stein were writing that was 181 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: coming out at around the same time. It was moderately successful. 182 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: It was generally pretty well reviewed, but it also set 183 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: the stage for the idea that do Mario was writing 184 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 1: for a popular audience, not writing serious literature. It was 185 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: only after her death that scholars really started to approach 186 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: her work as being worthy of academic study. To be clear, 187 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: it was important to her that she make money, but 188 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: she described herself as writing what she was drawn to, 189 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: rather than focusing on whether an idea could be a 190 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: commercial success. While her publisher heavily promoted her work throughout 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: her career, she was also reluctant to promote her books 192 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: herself through things like signings, appearances, and interviews, and in 193 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,359 Speaker 1: some ways this actually just made her seem more intriguing 194 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,199 Speaker 1: to the public. Not long after The Loving Spirit was published, 195 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,599 Speaker 1: one of Do Marie's sisters told her that there was 196 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: a very attractive man in a white motor boat who 197 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: was going up and down the harbor outside of their house. 198 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: Later on they would describe him as a menace, which 199 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 1: was their secret language word for the sort of incredibly 200 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: attractive man that you might just lose your head over. 201 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: This was Frederick Arthur Montague Browning, known as Boy or 202 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,479 Speaker 1: as Tommy to the people who were closest to him. 203 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,479 Speaker 1: He had read The Loving Spirit and had become determined 204 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: to meet its author, so he just took his boat 205 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: over to the harbor outside their house a little, a 206 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: little light stalking um. Do Mari's relationship with Browning really 207 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,439 Speaker 1: started when he visited her as she was recovering from 208 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: an appendectomy in April of nineteen thirty two, and they 209 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: married on July nineteenth of nineteen thirty two. They went 210 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 1: on to have three children, Tessa, Flavia, and Christian, who 211 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: was known as Kid. And we'll talk more about all 212 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: of this after we paused for a sponsor break. Daphne 213 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: du Maria's father, Gerald, died on April eleventh, nine thirty four, 214 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: and not long after that do Marier wrote a biography 215 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: of him, called Gerald a Portrait. Its publisher was Victor Gulantz, 216 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: who also published previous podcast subject Isadora Duncan. This started 217 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: a decade's long partnership between writer and publisher. Maria's next 218 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 1: novel was Jamaica In in nineteen thirty six. It was 219 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: set in Cornwall, this time inspired by du Maria stay 220 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,839 Speaker 1: at the real end of the same name that in 221 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: was built in seventeen fifty and had a long association 222 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: with smuggling. Jamaica In was d Maarrier's first commercially successful novel, 223 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: and Alfred Hitchcock adapted it into a film in nineteen 224 00:13:56,480 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: thirty nine. Neither do Maria nor Hitchcock liked this adaptation. 225 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: Though actor Charles Lawton had bought the film rights with 226 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: the intent of casting himself as the lead, he had 227 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: selected Hitchcock to direct, but he didn't give the director 228 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: much creative freedom. To return to nineteen thirty six, Boy 229 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: Browning was an officer in the Grenadier guards, eventually attaining 230 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: the rank of lieutenant in general. When his regiment was 231 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: since to Alexandria Egypt, Do Mario went with him. She 232 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: went back to England for a time when she learned 233 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: she was pregnant with their second child. After their daughter 234 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: was born, she left the children with their grandmothers and 235 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: a nanny, and then went back to Alexandria. She missed 236 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: Cornwall desperately and found that she didn't enjoy all the 237 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: overwhelming social obligations involved with being an officer's wife. She 238 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: would say of herself, quote, I can't say I really 239 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: like people. Perhaps that's why I always preferred to create 240 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: my own. She also said, she wrote, quote because I 241 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: never liked myself, and as a writer, I could lose 242 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: myself and my characters. While she was pretty confident as 243 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: a writer, she had some insecurities in terms of her 244 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: personal life. Browning was eleven years older than she was, 245 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: and before they had married, he had been engaged to 246 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: Jeanette Louisa Ricardo, who was known as Jan. To Daphne, 247 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: Jan just seemed far more alluring and glamorous than she was. 248 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: She wondered why Jan and boy had never gotten married. 249 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: She wondered whether she could ever measure up to Jan. 250 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: At one point, she found a stack of Jan's old 251 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: letters to boy tied up with a ribbon, and she 252 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: read through all of them, noticing that she signed Jan 253 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: with a very large and distinctive Jay Do. Marie's homesickness 254 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: for Cornwall, her self, doubt, her envy and fascination with 255 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: her husband's former fiancee, and the derelict estate of Menabilly 256 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: all set into her work on Rebecca. It was a 257 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: book that she struggled to write for a long time, 258 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: knowing only that it was about a widower second wife 259 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 1: who felt overshadowed by the lay first wife, Rebecca. Victor 260 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: Gallant's marketed Rebecca as a romance, and a lot of 261 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: people read it that way, and that really surprised Daphney Dumarrier. 262 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: She described this book as a study in jealousy. Holly, 263 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: have you read this book? I have, though it has 264 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: been a long time, but I have seen the movie 265 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: much more recently. I think maybe we'll talk about it 266 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: some more and behind the scenes. Um This drew out 267 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: a lot of comparisons to Jane Eyre, with people describing 268 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: du Maurier is sort of the spiritual successor to Charlotte Bronte. 269 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: Rebecca was an immediate success when it was published in 270 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight. It sold forty thousand copies over the 271 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: course of a month, and was translated into multiple languages. 272 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty, du Maurier wrote Come Wind, Come Weather, 273 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: and This was a brief collection of stories about ordinary 274 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: people meant to inspire the people of Britain during the 275 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: hardships of World War Two. Also in nineteen forty, Alfred 276 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: Hitchcock adapted Rebecca into the famous film. Du Maria was 277 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: much happier with this adaptation than she had been with 278 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: Jamaica in although that really was not a particularly high bar. 279 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: This film was a huge success, both commercially and critically. 280 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: It won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Cinematography, 281 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: and it was the only one of Hitchcock's films to 282 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,640 Speaker 1: be named Best Picture. But it also caught the attention 283 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: of other people whose work had some similarities to du Maria's. 284 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:32,600 Speaker 1: In one, Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco publicly accused Dumaria of 285 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: plagiarizing Rebecca from her novel A Sussex. Ara Nubuco had 286 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,439 Speaker 1: translated her book into English herself, and the English language 287 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 1: manuscript had been passed around among publishers in the U 288 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: s and England, Although du Maria's publisher managed to head 289 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: off a legal battle, The New York Times published a 290 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: piece tracing the many parallels between these two novels, although 291 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: that that piece does acknowledge that Rebecca's biggest prizes do 292 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: not appear in a sex Aura at all. Do Maria 293 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 1: denied any wrongdoing, noting that the stories about hasty marriages 294 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: of young women to wealthy older men and widower second 295 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: wives feeling intimidated by the woman who preceded them were 296 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: really not at all unique. Yeah, she was kind of 297 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: like everybody, like, there are a ton of books. This 298 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: is a trope. She acknowledged that fact. So by this 299 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: point Daphne and Boy had three children. Their son Kits, 300 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: had been born also in nineteen forty. Daphney doated on 301 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: him far more than she had with either of their daughters. 302 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: In ninety three, she convinced to doctor John Rashly to 303 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: lease menability to her. The home was entailed to the 304 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: Rashley family, so do Maria could never actually own it, 305 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: but she was granted a twenty year lease under the 306 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: condition that she maintained it. She called it my mena 307 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: Menabilly was in serious disrepair. It took several months of 308 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: work before her family can move in, and although a 309 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: lot of improvements were made, it was still really run down. 310 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: There was no central heat, and it was infested with 311 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: rodents and fungus and plants. Parts of it were completely 312 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: off limits because of the risk of collapse, but do 313 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: Marie adored it and she lived there with the staff 314 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: of cooks, servants and nanny's who cared for the children, 315 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: who knew not to disturb their mother when they heard 316 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: the sound of the old typewriter she used to write 317 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: her books. She was highly focused on her work. Her 318 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: husband joked that when she was in the midst of 319 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: working on a novel, she could walk into a lamp 320 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: post and not even notice it. But she also made 321 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: sure to make time to play with the children every day, 322 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: and she loved to walk with the dogs and sail 323 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: and arrange flowers to adorn their home. Do Mara and 324 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: her husband were a part during most of World War 325 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: Two because of his military service, including becoming chief of 326 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: staff to Lewis Mountbatton, the first Earl of Mount Batton 327 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: and also working with Prince Philip, later the Duke of Edinburgh. 328 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty six he was knighted and that made 329 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: du mari a lady Daphnee Browning. Although she was generally 330 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,440 Speaker 1: known as Daphne du Maria, you don't really see her 331 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: called Daphnee Browning unless it's in like a formal legal 332 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: document or something. When Browning was appointed Military Secretary of 333 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: the War Office in London in nineteen forty six, he 334 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: was able to reunite with his wife after many years 335 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: away at war. They had some trouble rekindling their relationship. 336 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: Though Browning had also served in World War One and 337 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: had recurring nightmares after returning home, his experiences in World 338 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,239 Speaker 1: War Two had compounded that trauma. This episode isn't about him, 339 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: so we're not going to go into a whole lot 340 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: of detail, but he had been part of Operation Market Garden. 341 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: During the planning stages. He was the one who described 342 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: part of the operation as possibly being a bridge too far. 343 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: The operation ultimately failed, leading to more than fifteen thousand 344 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: Allied casualties and the loss of hundreds of aircraft. Browning 345 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: spent themer of nineteen forty six with du Marier at Menability. 346 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,359 Speaker 1: Their relationship had previously been quite passionate, with the two 347 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: of them describing themselves as deeply in love with each other, 348 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: but in letters to fernand that she wrote towards the 349 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: end of that summer, d Maria confided that it had 350 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: become pretty much entirely platonic. Things got even harder when 351 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 1: Browning went back to work, and they only saw each 352 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: other on periodic weekends, with one of them visiting the 353 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,240 Speaker 1: other either at Menability or in London. In nineteen forty seven, 354 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: do Marie faced another plagiarism allegation, this time of Edwina 355 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: McDonald's nineteen twenty seven novel Blind Windows. That case had 356 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 1: seemed like it was settled years before, but McDonald had 357 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,479 Speaker 1: died and her son had resurrected the lawsuit, and this 358 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: time the case went to court and du Maria had 359 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: to travel to New York City to testify. At this point, 360 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,479 Speaker 1: du Maria was famous enough that her American publisher, Nelson Doubleday, Sr. 361 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: Sent his wife Ellen to a company d Marrow and 362 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: her children on the Transatlantic voyage, and Daphne felt absolutely 363 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: in love with Ellen. At first, she really doesn't seem 364 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: to have been shure how to deal with this. She 365 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: was married and in her mind, her Venetian tendencies and 366 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: her boyish soul that had all been sealed away. She 367 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: tried to avoid Ellen aboard the ship and gave her 368 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 1: kurt kind of cold responses whenever Ellen would try to 369 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,640 Speaker 1: talk to her. Eventually, the two women did become close friends. 370 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: Daphne confessed her feelings to Ellen, along with her sense 371 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: that they were a re emergence of the boy that 372 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: she had shut away. Ellen explained that she could not 373 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: reciprocate this apart from not sharing the same feelings, her 374 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: husband was dying of cancer. Ultimately, there was just no 375 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: proof that du Maurier had ever read Blind Windows or 376 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: the short story by the same author that it had 377 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,120 Speaker 1: been based on, and a judge ruled that while there 378 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: were some parallels between the two, they were two different books, 379 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,479 Speaker 1: just with similar setting. That case was appealed, but it 380 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: was ultimately dismissed. Do Maria returned to England and had 381 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: what was described as a breakdown from the stress of 382 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: the accusations and the court proceedings. The difficulties of the 383 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: Transatlantic voyage and her unrequited feelings for Ellen Doubleday. In Night, 384 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: Frederick Browning became controller and treasurer to Princess Elizabeth the Future, 385 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the Second, and Prince Philip. That same year, 386 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: du Maria wrote the play September Tide, which became kind 387 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: of a vehicle for her feelings for Ellen Doubleday. The 388 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: story involves a widow named Stella who develops feelings for 389 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: her son in law you In. Stella was something of 390 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: a stand in for Ellen. When this play was staged 391 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: in London in ninety eight, fifty year old Gertrude Lawrence, 392 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: who had previously had an affair with du Maria's father, 393 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 1: was cast in the role of Stella. At first, do 394 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: Marie really hated this casting, but over time aimes she 395 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: described her feelings for Ellen transferring to Gertrude. Gertrude's part 396 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: in this relationship isn't entirely clear, but Daphne was absolutely 397 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: devastated when she suddenly died of cancer and hepatitis on 398 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: September six two, at the age of fifty four. The 399 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,560 Speaker 1: lights on Broadway were dimmed to mark her passing. She's 400 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,959 Speaker 1: been noted as the first person to be honored this 401 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: way on Broadway. This marked a shift into Marie's life 402 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:30,919 Speaker 1: which we are going to get into you after we 403 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: first paused for a sponsor break. After the death of 404 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:46,159 Speaker 1: Gertrude Lawrence Stephne du Maurier experienced a really deep depression, 405 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: with her family describing her as almost catatonic, and in 406 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: addition to her grief, she just felt like she was 407 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,479 Speaker 1: getting old. Her book My Cousin Rachel, which had come 408 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: out in nineteen fifty one, had been as enormously success 409 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: s full as Rebecca was, but then The Apple Tree, 410 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: which was her short story collection that followed it, had 411 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 1: been very badly reviewed. The Apple Tree was the collection 412 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: that included her story The Birds, and critics just found 413 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: it to be too violent and sordid. After all this 414 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: to Mare was having a lot more trouble writing and 415 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: was feeling less creative, and her relationship with her husband, 416 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: who was still working at Buckingham Palace and making periodic 417 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: weekend visits, was becoming even more strained. In nineteen fifty seven, 418 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: right around their twenty fifth wedding anniversary, he was hospitalized 419 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 1: for nervous exhaustion compounded by the effects of alcohol abuse. 420 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: Do Marier learned that he had been having affairs when 421 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: one of the women that he was involved with called 422 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: her to tell her it was all her fault. Although 423 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: du Maria is best known for her novels, she also 424 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: wrote biographies, and one of these, which was The Infernal 425 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: World of Branwell Bronte, came out in nineteen sixty In 426 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,119 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three, Alfred Hitchcock finished his third d Maria 427 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: film adaptation, that was The Birds. To Maria was not 428 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 1: really a fan of this film. Hitchcock moved the setting 429 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,479 Speaker 1: of the book from England to California, and while du 430 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: Maria's story focused on a farmer and his family, she 431 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: described Hitchcock's characters as quote irritating people in San Francisco. 432 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: She was frustrated by the changes that were made to 433 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 1: the plot and the fact that he didn't often credit 434 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: her work and interviews that he gave about the movie. 435 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: This film led to another allegation of plagiarism, this time 436 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: involving Frank Baker's ninety six novel The Birds. Do Marier 437 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: denied this as well, and it's again not clear whether 438 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 1: she had ever read his novel. She said that her 439 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 1: initial inspiration for the birds started with watching flocks of 440 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: birds following farmers as they plowed fields in Cornwall and 441 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,880 Speaker 1: wondering what if they get tired of worms. On March 442 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: fourteenth five, Frederick Boy Browning died after a long period 443 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: of declining physical and mental health, including the amputation of 444 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 1: his lower left leg in nineteen sixty four because of 445 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: circulatory problems. Do Maria was really grief stricken and remorseful. 446 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: She blamed herself. She felt like she had contributed to 447 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:16,879 Speaker 1: his death by staying in Cornwall while he was in 448 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: London for a year. She dressed only in black and 449 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: white and took comfort in the idea that he was 450 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: waiting for her. Although her books don't really include a 451 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,439 Speaker 1: lot of straight up ghosts, they do sometimes have some 452 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: otherworldly happenings, and after her husband's death, she had a 453 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: growing interest in the paranormal. Four years later, Daphne du 454 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: Marier lost her lease on her beloved Menability. Doctor Rashley 455 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: had died and she'd spent several years negotiating with his heir, 456 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: who wanted to move in, so she leased another home 457 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: on the Rashleigh property known as kill Marth, this time 458 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: working out a lifetime lease, and she lived there for 459 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: the rest of her life. While Kilmarth had a lovely 460 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: view of the ocean Shin, she missed Menability deeply, and 461 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: this move also prompted another layer of grief over her 462 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,399 Speaker 1: husband's death. Grouting had really loved kill Marth, and he 463 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: had encouraged du Maria to move there before his death. 464 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: When she learned that the foundations at Kilmarth dated back 465 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,439 Speaker 1: to the fourteenth century, she turned that idea into a 466 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,400 Speaker 1: book called The House and the Strand. After moving to Kilmarth, 467 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: she also got a driver's license after going with that 468 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:28,920 Speaker 1: one for twenty five years, so she could be more 469 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: independent and visit her children and grandchildren more easily. Du 470 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: Marie's last novel, Rule Britannia, was published in nineteen seventy two. 471 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: It's been described as almost predicting breggsit It's set in 472 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: the not too distant future, and it describes the UK 473 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 1: leaving the European Economic Community and joining the US to 474 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: form a new country, us UK pronounced you Suck. It 475 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: was not subtle in its satire or its politics, and 476 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: it was very badly received After that she published a 477 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: couple of works of non fiction, including an autobiography called 478 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: Growing Pains, which came out in nineteen seventy seven. That 479 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: book stopped with her marriage because she found she just 480 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: could not continue after that point. She was also deeply 481 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: upset by the portrayal of her late husband in the 482 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven film Abridge Too Far, which depicted him 483 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: not only as being almost solely responsible for the failure 484 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: of Operation Market Garden, but also insensitive to the loss 485 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: of so many men. Feeling like she was at a 486 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,640 Speaker 1: total creative loss, do Marie had an emotional breakdown in 487 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eight one. She died on April nineteenth, nine, eighty nine, 488 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: at the age of eighty one, after a long period 489 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: of decline compounded by secretly refusing to eat. She was 490 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: cremated and her ashes were scattered at Kilmar. During her lifetime, 491 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: she had earned multiple honors and awards. These included the 492 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: National Book Award for Rebecca in ninety eight and being 493 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: named a Fellow of the roy Society of Literature in 494 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two. She was named Dame Commander Order of 495 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: the British Empire for her services to literature in nineteen 496 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: sixty nine, and she earned the Mystery Writers of America 497 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 1: Grand Master Award in nineteen seventy seven. It's clear that 498 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,719 Speaker 1: Daphne du Maurier experienced a lot of inner turmoil about 499 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: her sexuality, her gender, and the expectations placed on her 500 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,440 Speaker 1: as a woman and as an officer's wife, but others 501 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: described her as outwardly extremely calm and courteous, just about unflappable. 502 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: Sheila Hodges, who was her editor for almost forty years, 503 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: described her as not wanting to be a bother during 504 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: editing and accepting changes without complaint, writing quote, no one 505 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: could have been more cooperative or less prima donna like 506 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: than she was on those occasions. There was really only 507 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: one book that Hodges described Maria as really pushing back on, 508 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: which was The Golden Lads, Sir Francis Bacon, Anthony Bacon 509 00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: and their Friends. Basically, du mari had become really fascinated 510 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: by the idea of a potential connection between Francis Bacon 511 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: and William Shakespeare, and since she didn't have hard evidence, 512 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 1: she had included this idea as like little illusions scattered 513 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: throughout the book. Hodges cut all these out and du 514 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: Maria wrote to say that she wanted them all back in. 515 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: She noted that most people probably were not even going 516 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 1: to notice them, and quote if it annoys others, I 517 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: just don't care. I love that. Hodges only learned much 518 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: later that there were times when du Maria did not 519 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,719 Speaker 1: like her edits, but also didn't say anything about it. 520 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: While du Maria is best known for her fiction, The 521 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: Golden Lads was one of five biographies she wrote during 522 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: her lifetime, she also wrote books on Cornwall, a history 523 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: of the du Maurier family, short stories, and plays. In 524 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: addition to the three Alfred Hitchcock adaptations that we've discussed, 525 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: there have been at least ten film adaptations of her 526 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 1: work and at least forty TV dramatizations. Her work was 527 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: usually well suited to these kinds of adaptations. Some were 528 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: slow building and psychologically tense, which made for good dramas 529 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: and thrillers. Or they were more melodramatic and featured things 530 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: like smugglers and pirates, or they were more romantic. She 531 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: was also a really visual writer, which made it easy 532 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: for filmmakers to see characters and settings in their minds. 533 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: I one of the hallmarks of de Marie's books is 534 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: striking first line, so we thought we would end with 535 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: a few of them. The most famous, of course, is 536 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: the first line of Rebecca. Last Night I dreamt I 537 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: went to Manderley again. The Birds begins with on December 538 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: the third, the wind changed overnight and it was winter. 539 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: And then in the Apple Tree it opens with they 540 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: told me afterwards they had found nothing, no trace of 541 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: anyone living or dead. It's also really good at chapter endings, yeah, 542 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: since you get to the end of the chapter and 543 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 1: you're like, well, I can't stop there. But those are 544 00:32:54,880 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: harder to read as one sentence in a podcast. UM, 545 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: I'm so glad that you did this one because I 546 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: love her story. Um. It's complex and it's difficult, but 547 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: it's also one of those things it's really illustrative of 548 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: just the ways that people kind of create an image 549 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: of someone who's in the public eye when really there's 550 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 1: a whole other life going on, particularly their internal life 551 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: and what they're struggling with, um or just trying to 552 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: figure out. And I always liked those stories, So thank you. Yeah, 553 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: I'm I'm glad. I just saw two friends having a 554 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 1: random conversation on Twitter about Rebecca it took me on 555 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: a whole whole journey. See now I want you to 556 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: do the dramatic reading of the Twitter, but really I 557 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: know you have listener mail. I do have listener mail. 558 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: It is from Amber. Amber says, oh, this is in 559 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: in reference to our episode about the Nelson Pill hearings, 560 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: and Amber said, Hello, Holly and Tracy. I'm a few 561 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: weeks behind on podcasts and have been catching up while 562 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: unpacking from my recent move. Today I listened to your 563 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: podcast from the beginning of May on the Nelson Pill Hearings, 564 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: which has come at an unusually meaningful time. A couple 565 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: of years ago, I became aware of birth control side 566 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 1: effects after a nurse practitioner shout out to hard working 567 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: and well educated nurses notified me that the birth control 568 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: I had been prescribed for the last decade may put 569 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: me at a higher risk of strokes since I suffer 570 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: from migraines with aura. Fast forward two years and my cousin, 571 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,400 Speaker 1: who also suffers from very severe and frequent migraines with aura, 572 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: began IVF. She was also completely unaware of the possibility 573 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: that this may increase her stroke risk due to her 574 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,879 Speaker 1: additional risk factors. Her fertility doctor did not require her 575 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,880 Speaker 1: to get an exam from her neurologist, and this weekend, 576 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: my cousin suffered a stroke. Luckily, due to the conversation 577 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: she and I had as she was nearing the end 578 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: of her IVF cycle, she went to the hospital and time, 579 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 1: and the stroke did not cause any major damage. My 580 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 1: cousin is thirty three. I'm sharing this experience with the 581 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: hope that people will advocate for themselves with their doctor 582 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,239 Speaker 1: asked them if you should get additional consults from your 583 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: other specialists. If your doctor doesn't walk through risk factors 584 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,880 Speaker 1: of medications, asked them to do so. You're not a 585 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: burden and your health is so much more meaningful than 586 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,319 Speaker 1: the five extra minutes that you need to give up. 587 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,479 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy, thank you for continuing to break down 588 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,880 Speaker 1: meaningful historical topics that can also affect our daily lives. 589 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,640 Speaker 1: All the best, Amber, thank you so much for this email. Amber, 590 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,560 Speaker 1: I wrote back to Amber, I'm so glad that your 591 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 1: cousin is okay, and I'm so glad that you gave 592 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,160 Speaker 1: us permission to read this um. I always want to 593 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: check with people when I feel like they've shared something 594 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 1: particularly personal so thank you for allowing us to share 595 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: this email and the you know, the warnings and encouragement 596 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: to talk to to to your doctors about concerns um 597 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,719 Speaker 1: because I feel like that's just so incredibly important, So 598 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: thank you again, Amber. If you would like to write 599 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 1: to us about this or any other podcast, where History 600 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: Podcast at i heeart radio dot com and we're all 601 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,520 Speaker 1: over social media ad miss in History. That's where you'll 602 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. And you can 603 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,839 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on the I heart radio app 604 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 1: and Apple podcast and anywhere else you get your favorite podcasts. 605 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,160 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 606 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,400 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 607 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 608 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows