The Life, Novels and Movies of Daphne du Maurier Quiz

Answer: Ganymede

"Ganymede" was set in Venice and concerned the story of a student who became infatuated with a young waiter whilst on holiday. The novelette was taken from a collection of short stories titled "The Breaking Point".

Answer: Manderley

Manderley is the home of Maxim de Winter, the widowed husband of the eponymous Rebecca. It is a typical English country house of its time, full of family history, run by domestic staff headed by the fearsome Mrs Danvers and is open to the public at certain times of the year. Of course, the house is reputed to be haunted but it doesn't have a ghost in the classical sense.

In this novel, the craft of the story is the way in which the spirit of Rebecca (who at no time physically appears in the novel) pervades every aspect the story.

The new Mrs de Winter, who paradoxically is not given any name other than Mrs de Winter, is slowly driven to despair by the brooding presence of Rebecca everywhere she turns.

Answer: True

Jamaica Inn was once a coaching stop on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It had a reputation for being a place where 'Wreckers' gathered to hide or fence their plunder. 'Wreckers' was the name given to land based pirates who haunted the Cornish coastline in the 17th - 19th centuries. During bad weather they would set false lights along the rocky coast to lure unwary ships onto the rocks. Once the ships were stranded the wreckers would row out to them, board them and murder the crew and passengers before plundering the vessel.

They would take their booty to hideaways such as Jamaica Inn to share it out or sell it. Today Jamaica Inn is a popular pub and tourist stop just off the main Truro to London road. The pub includes a museum telling the story of the Inn's dark past and an interactive exhibition which takes visitors on a journey through Daphne du Maurier's novel.

Answer: DBE

She became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 1969. The DBE is the female equivalent of a Knighthood. Thereafter she was known as Dame Daphne du Maurier.

Answer: The Birds

"The Birds" was a short story concerning a Cornish farming family living near a small village. Movie Director Alfred Hitchcock thought the setting would not translate well to the big screen so he relocated it to California. Hitchcock mystified the cinema audience by giving no plausible reason why the birds should go on the attack, but in the novel, Daphne du Maurier suggests that the behaviour of the birds is somehow connected to the tides and when the wind comes from the east. Du Maurier claimed that the inspiration for the novel came from one day when she was driving along country lanes and saw a farmer working in his field, with a crowd of seabirds wheeling above his head.

She wondered what would happen if those birds took it into their heads to attack him.

Answer: The Little Photographer

All the novelettes in this question were taken from a collection of short stories called "The Apple Tree".

Answer: Olivia de Havilland

Tippi Hendren played the part of Melanie Daniels in "The Birds", Maureen O'Hara played the part of Mary in "Jamaica Inn", and Joan Fontaine played the part of Mrs de Winter in "Rebecca".

Answer: Jamaica Inn

The line is spoken (or rather, slurred) by Joss Merlyn, the tall, bullying owner of Jamaica Inn who allows his property to be used as a hiding place for loot plundered by the Wreckers who plague the Cornish coastline.

Answer: False

She was born in London in May 1907, although she lived most of her life in Cornwall where she died shortly before her 82nd birthday in April 1989.

Answer: Her Great, Great Grandmother

Her great, great grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke, was the long time mistress of Frederick the Duke of York and Albany, a son of King George III and a brother of the later King George IV. He is reputed to be one of three possible persons of whom the children's nursery rhyme "The Grand Old Duke of York" was written.

The other two are Richard of York (father of Edward IV and Richard III) and James II, who was Duke of York before he succeeded his brother Charles II.