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‘Daphne,’ by Justine Picardie
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By Martin Rubin
Special to the (L.A.) Times
August 5 2008
“JUSTINE PICARDIE’S ‘Daphne,’ which focuses on Daphne du Maurier’s life in crisis as she turns 50 and prepares to celebrate her silver wedding anniversary, is an engrossing and absorbing read. And as if her ability to bring to life so convincingly the eponymous heroine were not enough, Picardie’s novel touches on several other worlds guaranteed to draw crowds. For who can resist the Brontes (Du Maurier is writing a biography of Charlotte, Anne and Emily’s brother Branwell)? Or the Du Maurier legacy (her father, Gerald, was the leading matinee idol of his day; her grandfather, George, was the creator of Svengali in his classic novel ‘Trilby’)? Or Du Maurier’s connections to J.M. Barrie’s ‘lost boys’ who inspired ‘Peter Pan’ (her first cousins) and the British royal family (her husband is Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Browning, treasurer to Prince Philip)? All this—and much more—adds up to a delicious and piquant stew of interlocking worlds and desperate people, told with considerable panache and much psychological insight. . . .”
Click here for the complete text of Martin’s review or visit www.latimes.com.