...here's another couple of great reads...
If you like Justine Picardie’s Daphne why not try The Infernal World of Branwell Brönte by Daphne du Maurier herself. This is the biography of the Brönte sister’s troubled elder brother, as explored in Picadie’s novel. Branwell began a bold and gifted child, but unable to counter the later rejection of his paintings and unpublished books, adulthood brought him alcoholism and ultimately death.
Or you could try Sally Beauman’s Rebecca’s Tale; the sequel to Daphne du Maurier’s masterpiece. This ambitious novel is set 20 years after the death of Rebecca and begins with the same classic line ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Mandarley again”. Written as a companion rather than a sequel, Beauman tells the story of the enigmatic first mistress of Manderley. On the twentieth anniversary of her death, family friend Colonel Julyan - who also presided over the notorious inquest - receives an anonymous parcel in the post. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the title page - Rebecca's Tale - and two pictures: a photograph of Rebecca as a young child, and a postcard of Manderley. Julyan's conscience has never been clear over the official version of Rebecca's death. Was it really suicide, or was it actually murder? And are we set to find out?
