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Manderley Forever

A Biography of Daphne du Maurier

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Manderley Forever

By: Tatiana de Rosnay, Sam Taylor - translator
Narrated by: Charlotte Wright
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Summary

The nonfiction debut from beloved international sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay: her bestselling biography of novelist Daphne du Maurier.

“It's impressive how Tatiana was able to recreate the personality of my mother, including her sense of humor. It is very well written and very moving. I’m sure my mother would have loved this book.” — Tessa Montgomery d’Alamein, daughter of Daphné du Maurier, as told to Pauline Sommelet in Point de Vue

As a bilingual bestselling novelist with a mixed Franco-British bloodline and a host of eminent forebears, Tatiana de Rosnay is the perfect candidate to write a biography of Daphne du Maurier. As an eleven-year-old de Rosnay read and reread Rebecca, becoming a lifelong devotee of Du Maurier’s fiction. Now de Rosnay pays homage to the writer who influenced her so deeply, following Du Maurier from a shy seven-year-old, a rebellious sixteen-year-old, a twenty-something newlywed, and finally a cantankerous old lady. With a rhythm and intimacy to its prose characteristic of all de Rosnay’s works, Manderley Forever is a vividly compelling portrait and celebration of an intriguing, hugely popular and (at the time) critically underrated writer.

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Cornwall is central to the du Maurier legend. How could any narrator of her life story fail to research the proper pronunciation of all the places in Cornwall with which Daphne du Maurier is associated? This jarred at my nerves and ruined an otherwise good listen.

Terrible pronunciation of Cornish place names!

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Very interesting novel styled biography but the mispronunciation of so many words and names was hard work. Especially the Cornish ones…. Pronouncing the ‘w’ in Fowey is definitely the most alarming but there are many others. It’s a shame because it is read with passion.

Hmmm🤔

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Where does Manderley Forever rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Not as good as hoped. Some of the details were dubious.. For example....not a mention was made of Daphne Du Maurier visiting Cyprus whilst she was staying in Egypt. Some say that is where she wrote "Rebecca"....her most famous novel!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Oh dear! The pronunciation of some of the words was awful. Words like "interminable"....you cannot emphasise the "min" surely...? [Interminable].And the pronunciation of the Cornish place names - not great! Quite detracted from the narration overall.HOWEVER - the pronunciation of the French words was great! Credit where it is due....

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I love anything to do with Daphne Du Maurier - so I liked the content but nothing new.

Any additional comments?

A bit disappointed overall.

Disappointing!

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Well narrated but it’s a shame the reader wasn’t told how to pronounce Fowey! It’s pronounced ‘Foy’ not ‘Fowie’! Also I had to listen to four pronunciations of interminable as interMIDable instead of inTERmidable. Despite that annoyance she is s lovely reader, very passionate about the story.

Interesting take on the Du Maurier story

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I enjoyed all the intricate details of Daphne's life but bristled at the many mispronounciations of place names in particular. As I am very familiar with Cornwall, this slightly spoiled the listening experience for me. However, I loved hearing all about the joys and trials of this author whose books I have read, and re-read since I was a teenager.

a fascinating life!

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