I Am Danvers

by Kate Kaminski

Twenty-eight year old Marie Danvers struggles to find security in an insecure world. Then she meets Ian, a seductive conman who offers her apprenticeship in fleecing high net worth marks whose blind spots are ripe for exploitation. But instead of security, Danny's initiation into art theft via private domestic service leads her into a romantic obsession with wild child Calista who's about to be married. When her fantasies end in disaster, Danny lands a dream job in Los Angeles where tabloid celebrity Bebe Patten is about to take her on the joyride of her life. Set against the backdrop of a cutthroat film industry where lust, desperation and unhinged ambition collide, Danny is about to discover she's nothing more than a pawn in a covert game that will have lethal consequences.



Though conceived as an updated prequel to Daphne du Maurier's classic novel "Rebecca," the novel is a separate chronicle focused on a young Mrs. Danvers, exploring Danny's reimagined backstory as a con artist as well as her intense obsessions with unattainable women. The narrator's wryly ironic voice pulls you into a world where everybody's true motives are hidden, even her own.

272 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2025

About the author

Kate Kaminski is a writer and award-winning indie filmmaker. She is the author of two novels ("I Am Danvers" and "One Good Thing") and is at work on a cozy mystery set in Maine. Her films are distributed internationally by Gemini Entertainment and are streaming online. Two films - "Trip" and "The Barghest" - have recently been remastered and were re-released in 2025 on blu-ray DVD. Formerly a college instructor of filmmaking and film studies, Kaminski also founded and was Artistic Director of two feminist film festivals that ran from 2011-2020. She describes herself as a compulsive photographer and a champion of animal and environmental causes. She and long-time collaborator in life and film Betsy Carson continue to produce independent media, most recently a comedy cryptid docuseries "Tracking the Comegato" that can be viewed on their YouTube channel @gitgofilms. They live and work in southern Maine.

Reviews

[Jennifer Dupree · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I Am Danvers" is a modern, queer retelling of Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca." It's hard to come anywhere close to how good "Rebecca" is, right? But Kaminski succeeds! Her Danny is all kinds of trouble and her journey to becoming the housekeeper at Manderley is anything but conventional. "I Am Danvers" is smart, compelling, and darkly comedic.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Am Danvers is a wild ride I finished in two sittings. Kaminski has reimagined Daphne du Maurier's Mrs. Danvers as Danny a 28-year-old con artist who likes to party and scheme. She’s sex-positive and has a good sense of humor. She also has past trauma. She dissociates. She’s impulsive. She has a type. Unattainable women. The book is part mystery and part crime novel. The backdrop is Hollywood. Ian and Vernon are fellow grifters, friends in a pinch, and not to be trusted. Danny’s job on paper is as a domestic staff / personal assistant. Their mark is Bebe Patten, a nepo baby and a #MeToo abuser. Art world grift meets Tinseltown sleaze. Kaminski’s details are vivid and cinematic. And olfactory. These Hollywood people smell bad. Kaminski makes connections to the film industry’s history of abuse. Bebe’s parents had their own con. Think James Franco. Danny’s employers underestimate this executive housekeeper. She is submissive, not really. She’s a survivor set for self-preservation. Kaminski’s story is fast-paced and twisty.

[Joan]

I was mesmerized by I Am Danvers, Kate Kaminski’s novel, which reimagines the story of Mrs. Danvers, first introduced to readers in the novel Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier.

Kaminski's compelling storytelling draws you deep into Danny/Danvers’ experiences as she claws her way out of a painful past toward the safety and insulation of the rarefied surroundings she craves. Her journey will make you laugh out loud, take your breath away, and break your heart, all while rooting for this complicated protagonist and the cast of characters who inhabit the fascinating worlds she moves through. 

Kaminski fills in the missing pieces, surfaces the secrets, and answers the lingering questions about Mrs. Danvers, while creating an intriguing story about the search for love and belonging, and the measures people will take to achieve those goals. I Am Danvers is a  truly unforgettable read that will have you wishing for more from this talented author!

[Cheryl Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this read! So clever and smart and funny all with a wonderfully flawed lesbian protagonist. When I went to one of Kaminski's readings she said "I just want it to be a fun read" and there it is! Success! Fun!
I read it as sloooowly as I could so that I could enjoy the imagery that was so fully developed and almost tangible. Danny is a bad ass...and I mean bad, and yet I couldn't help but cheer for her....I think I knew her in my younger days. Danny was flawed but aren't we all? Danny is strong and stubborn with tenacity. and some of the other characters were so smarmy that sometimes I just wanted to take a shower! But that would mean I'd have to put the book down....
Read it, you won't be dissapointed!