The Content Reader

I first came into contact with Margaret Forster reading her biography of Daphne du Maurier . So when I ran into this book, which is a story about her own family secrets, I was thrilled. And she does not disappoint. When Margaret Forster’s grandmother died in 1936, she took secrets with her to her grave. Just before she died there was a mysterious woman in black who visited her. She never revealed to her daughters what it was all about. At her funeral, when the daughters gather and discuss this mysterious event there is another knock on the door. Outside is an unknown woman claiming to be her daughter and asking if she left anything for her. After Margaret Forster’s mother died in 1981, she started to look into the history of her family. She discovered that her grandmother was born out of wedlock. But what was disturbing was the fact that she found her birth certificate and then there are no traces of her life until she reappears in the official records at the age of twenty-three! ...

Daphne du Maurier is born on this day in 1907. Mostly known for romantic suspense novels. She settled in Cornwall where many of her books take place. One of the most popular is Rebecca,  which tells about a young girl who marries a man whose first wife died mysteriously. It was set in a mansion called Manderley. It was modelled after her own 70-room (!) home Menabilly  which she renovated for many years. The book was made into an Academy Award-winning picture in 1940, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. I still remember the scary housekeeper! The opening line is famous: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. Other famous books are; The Birds, Cousin Rachel, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek  and many, many more. She also wrote memoirs, histories and biographies. One of them is  The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë   (click link to see my review) .  She got interested in the Brontës and did a lot of resea...