Daphne du Maurier and Her Sisters

“In biography, families are the soil out of which character grows,” observes Dunn (Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell) in this study of novelist Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca) and her much lesser-known siblings: elder sister, Angela, who wrote two memoirs and a novel about lesbian love;, and youngest sister, Jeanne, who became a visual artist. Born to prominent theater family, they grew up among a glamorous set in Edwardian London before moving to Cornwall. Sheltered by their conservative parents, the sisters created a world of make believe and depended on another for companionship. Dunn’s eager, if repetitive narrative follows the sisters as they discover their place in the world, and seek love, vocations, and independence. Not surprisingly, Daphne gets the most attention. However, Angela—who burned much of her correspondence—emerges as a sympathetic figure, almost always in Daphne’s shadow and desperate for love. Angela and Jeanne both found their primary emotional attachments with women, a fact made more astonishing given their father’s horror at any hint of homosexuality. Overall, the author’s affection for her subjects comes through. Illus. [em]Agent: Derek Johns, A.P. Watt. (Sept.) [/em]