Vanishing Cornwall: The Spirit and History of Cornwall

by Daphne du Maurier

Daphne du Maurier and Cornwall belong together as surely as Hardy and Dorset, or Dickens and Christmas.

Miss du Maurier has made Cornwall her home for most of her life and has shown her love and knowledge of all things Cornish in some of her greatest successes, Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, Jamaica Inn and many of her other much-loved books.

In this book she and her son Christian Browning, the photographer, chronicle aspects of that legendary peninsula which may not be with us very much longer

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, British Literature, Memoir, Biography, Cultural

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Daphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907 at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel, née Beaumont. In many ways her life resembles a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby, and her mother was a maternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. She and her sisters were indulged as a children and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.

She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.

She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.

Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.

While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.

In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.

In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.

Reviews

[zed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daphne du Maurier’s 1967 homage to Cornwall. Blending historical anecdotes, literary reflections, and landscape descriptors, she described its people, its legends and myths and its fast-fading industries. In fact, a fading world is stark in her writing.

For those who enjoy Cornwall’s past, this is a nice read. May I get back there one day.

[Mary Durrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written.
Daphne loves Cornwall as much as I do.
She paints a wonderful picture, although sadly we no longer have any working tin mines.
Cornwall is changing and evolving, some good some bad.
I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Highly recommended!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, partly because it’s an old-fashioned testimonial of love to the place DuMaurier grew up. Despite the fact the she had a 55-year history with Cornwall when this book was first published in 1967, she and her son Christian Browning traveled around the region, Browning taking photos and DuMaurier researching by talking to residents and searching out villages and sights they suggested. The result is a book that covers myth and history, and, most interestingly, draws out the ways in which Cornwall influenced British literature, from King Arthur to the Brontes to her own works. I rescued this one from Goodwill; otherwise I never would have know about it.

[Tieria's · Rating 4 out of 5]

I said I wasn't going to bother adding non-fiction to my Goodreads lists, but I will make a few exceptions. Du Maurier approached this with a love of and great knowledge of Cornwall, and I recommend it for anyone who is planning a trip and who wants some good off-the-beaten-path recommendations. Of course the information will be somewhat dated (i.e., things may have been paved over since she wrote this) but it's still worth reading.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough one to write a review and decide a daring for because in places it was really quite interesting and I relived a lot of holiday memories. The photographs are also lovely to flick through and reminisce. The book is a mixture of folklore references, Cornish history and the geography of the area. Unfortunately the book is now quite dated and a lot of the guides of how to get to places are now no longer accessible and so these bits felt quite sluggish. There were also a lot of references based on points from on the river like which creek branches off where and these were very hard to picture as there were no corresponding photos or even maps. These would have made it a much more interactive and immersive read. Daphne du Mauriers passion for the place comes across vividly, particularly her admiration for the tin miners and their trade. It doesn’t read like a text book so it was still overall an enjoyable read but sadly showing its age and not something I would read through again. Still nice to have it as a memory when I next read one of her books as it’s clear she truly loved Cornwall and its people and places.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great homage to Cornwall by du Maurier. She looks into its history and culture in her own inimitable manner, relating tales of folklore and intrigue to aspects of the landscape. We get everything from tin mining to shipwrecks, foggy moors to outdoor preaching, geology to fishing. There's even a mention of the famous Jamaica Inn. The writing is completely engaging and entertaining whilst really conjuring the independent and indomitable spirit of Cornwall.

Funnily enough du Maurier talks about how busy the region becomes in the summer season (this is in the 1960's) and the lament of the locals; I wonder what she'd think of it now with locals priced out of housing in their own areas, unemployment and child poverty at astonishingly high rates and the use of food banks at an all time high, all whilst second homes owned by wealthy Londoners sit empty for the winter.

A great read.

[Linda Orvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Cornwall is number one on my bucket list, and this book made me want to go there even more.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I followed the steps of daphne du maurier when I went to cornwall long ago

[Martha Wiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although dated, du Maurier's book is a love story to Cornwall and celebrates the mysteries and culture of the region.

[Tina Culbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nonfiction for my 2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge at Book's Out. and British Isles Friday.

 I enjoyed the book and learning so much about the history of Cornwall.  It was a place du Maurier had such a passion for and influenced so many authors we have read in classic literature.  The part about Yorkshire and the Bronte sisters and family was very interesting to me.  Reading about their Cornish mother and aunt and how it sparked their imaginations, inspiring the plots and locale in their books.

The myths and legends about Arthur, King Mark and Tristan were page turners as well.  Too many stories in here to address all but if you have an interest in the history, landscape,  myths and legends about Cornwall, please check your local library for a copy of this book.

As a few commenters stated they didn't know Daphne du Maurier wrote any nonfiction.   I thought I would include a screen shot of the book listing her books.  She wrote many about Francis Bacon, I suppose her big interest, as well as memoirs.

Category for the nonfiction challenge is Myths and Legends.

[Heart DeCoupeville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular.

[Emily]

saw this at a used bookstore with no title on the spine, just ‘daphne dumaurier’, so obviously i bought it

[Rachel Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm frustrated at having to give this three stars, because in places it was quite interesting, and the photographs were gorgeous. It's a mix of Cornish history, geography, and folklore. The geography was putting me to sleep for the most part; there was a lot about what creek branches off which river, and the like. I think maps and photos showing what du Maurier described would have helped. As it was, I couldn't picture these places I'd never been to or seen. Some historical accounts were more fascinating than others; I could tell how much the author admired the tinners for their independence and determination to make a way of life. The best part, I thought, were the local legends and superstitious beliefs. They really gave the book a sense of character and culture. Maybe it's because I'm interested in England and likely would at least try to read anything du Maurier wrote, but this was one of the more engaging educational books I've tried. It didn't read like a textbook or encyclopedia at all; it was very personal with the author's accounts of her own trips around Cornwall, and her love for it is obvious. I am glad I finally got around to reading it.

[Sarah Coller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading through this. I'm so thankful to be able to read books about places I've never been. I think Daphne du Maurier was a very intelligent woman and had a way of telling a story that keeps our attention and interest, even if we don't fully understand the subject.

I'd never read anything nonfiction about Cornwall---but all the good vintage gothics are set there and I've read a whole lot of them! The book had several really interesting parts. I was especially intrigued with the idea of the miners working under the sea bed, accessed from the caves cut in the cliffs above. How treacherous! I also finally took the time to look up the word, "furze"---a term I'd wondered about since seeing a house called The Furze on an episode of Miss Marple.

Very enjoyable read.

[Vicki Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this slim volume opens with a very du Maurier like description of a gardener's encounter with a snake, it evolves into exactly what it appears to be, a very through examination of the history and geography of an area that du Maurier obviously adored. The thoroughness of the physical elements of the landscape can be pretty exhaustive, if this isn't your primary interest. More interesting to this reader, was du Maurier's examination of the area's impact on history and culture, especially literature. I enjoy reading about faraway places, especially when the writer has personal knowledge of the area and, in that respect, you can't do much better than this lovely little book.

[Kim Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that has been on our bookshelf for some years but had passed me by. Whilst it took me some time to read due to distractions with other books, I have to say it was a pleasure to read. Getting a perspective of Cornwall via Daphne was a joy. Her descriptive writing skills just enhanced the historical facts plus snippets of stories from her life interspersed in the book made it a very enjoyable read. It was interesting to read a book written in 1966, to compare her thoughts on how the Cornwall of today might look. Loved the beautiful glossy silky paper on which the book had been printed too!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book about Cornwall. Written by Daphne Du Maurier with photos by her son it is a book about the landscape, people, and history of Cornwall.

This was a gift from a friend in the UK and on my last visit, we went to Cornwall and I really fell in love with the county. As the author describes, the weather can change very quickly. My favorite place we visited was St. Michael's Mount. I could have stayed there all day!! Really a magnificent place!!

[Stephanie Holm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt this book read as Daphne du Maurier's memoir on Cornwall, and I really enjoyed it - having just travelled to Cornwall myself and picked up a copy of this book in an antiques store. The chapters are structured around different topics including the sea, folklore and superstition, religion, mining and grand houses.

[Gill Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent this in a random book exchange and I probably wouldn't have picked it off a shelf in a book shop. Even though it was written 55 years ago, it's still a refreshing little read. Some things in Cornwall have changed, and some things haven't.

There's something quite lovely about reading a book like this with the perspective of someone 'from the future.'

[Iñaki Tofiño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligent and entertaining reflections about the past of Cornwall and its future. Published in the 1960s, Du Maurier was clever enough to foresee some of the issues that the region would have to face over the next decades. Poetic and interesting, a nice introduction to Kernow.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one knew Cornwall as well as Daphne DuMaurier did, and in this nonfiction work she paints a loving portrait of the region and especially its dramatic coastline.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating Clarification: 4.5 Stars

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the subject, even now. And with a thought-provoking conclusion.

Beautifully written, as you'd expect.

Highly recommended!

[Elan Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful prose by an underrated writer ... Only make me want to go to Cornwall.

[Louise Woodruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought the book at great store Russell Books in Victoria BC. Enjoyed du Maurier's thoughts on Cornwall.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful companion for a trip to Cornwall.

[Emma Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting non-fiction about the history of Cornwall. du Maurier’s strength is in her fictional writing, but she does bring to life the old stories of the county.

[Lisa Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every chapter, every facet of Cornwall. The stories, the history. I truly loved this book.

[Madeline Bialecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical perspective and beautiful photos.

[Peter Ellwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book, a lovesong to Cornwall, which anyone with an interest in the place should read – with relish too. But I recommend doing it faster than I did.

Where does the time go? I bought this book soon after my last visit to that distant land of legend and magic, and for some reason, it sat, unread, on my shelves ever since. You get to the point where a book like that is no longer something you intend to read; it becomes something else, an item of decoration whose job is just to sit there.

Anyway, finally, I got round to reading it. The original price is on the hardback flyleaf – 35/- - with a modern sticker updating that, the £1.75p I actually paid. It’s been nearly fifty years, and Cornwall has vanished even more since then.

More’s the pity. Daphne du Maurier writes a gentle book, conveying the mystery and the history and the smell and the very taste of Cornwall, what it feels like to wander on those desolate grey moors or by that roaring sea. You can almost hear the waves as she writes about them. Don’t expect a Baedecker – the only place to stay that she mentions in the entire book is, unsurprisingly, Jamaica Inn. But if you fancy a glimpse of the history and the folklore and the feel of Cornwall, then this is the book for you.