Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday and Daphne du Maurier

Cornwall is one of my favourite places on earth. Not least because it's where Daphne du Maurier lived. I have many happy memories of the Scribe and myself in Cornwall, including a thrilling night driving across a foggy Bodmin Moor right near Jamaica Inn.
I remember my friend who owned a lovely B&B in Boscastle where we stayed being perplexed by my love of all that is Daphne. "Isn't she a bit old hat?" she said.
Never! I think Daphne is forever a legend because of the riveting, haunting nature of her books and writing. She is the consummate storyteller and refused to follow trends of publishing. Her books such as Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and Jamaica Inn invite numerous re-readings and you can often get a different interpretation of the story when you do so.
I can imagine how horrified Daphne would have been at the modern publishing industry with its Twittering, Facebooks, celebrity publishing and Blogging. She would not have been comfortable with the self-promotion demanded of writers these days. All she wanted to do was live by the sea in her beloved Cornwall and tell her tales. It sounds perfect to me.
Her life is fascinating and she is as complex as her stories. She remains one of my Holy Trinity of women writers, along with Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie.
And so on Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday let us celebrate the genius of Daphne du Maurier and her haunting, dark, psychological stories and books. May her original, gripping writing inspire us all to disregard modern trends and, if we are writers, to focus on a great story with unforgettable characters that keeps the reader turning the pages.

Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard. Daphne du Maurier

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