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Split Second and Other Stories
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1952
1 person is currently reading
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About the author
Daphne du Maurier
424 books10.3k followersDaphne 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 9, 2024
3.5* rounded up
I loved Rebecca so I was looking forward to reading more Daphne de Maurier. I read this together iwth The Short Story Club. The idea of the story was not new but the execution was well done. Mrs. Ellis, whose daughter is away to boarding school, goes for a walk. When she return, there are other unknown people in the house.
I loved Rebecca so I was looking forward to reading more Daphne de Maurier. I read this together iwth The Short Story Club. The idea of the story was not new but the execution was well done. Mrs. Ellis, whose daughter is away to boarding school, goes for a walk. When she return, there are other unknown people in the house.
February 27, 2024
Review of title story, “Split Second”
The plot isn’t particularly original, but Du Maurier masterfully preys on profound and common fears (). Beware of reviews that give too much away.
Mrs Ellis is a widow in her mid-30s, living in Hampstead. It’s probably the twentieth century, but initially - and deliberately - hard to tell exactly when. Her 9-year old daughter, Susan, who she thinks is brilliant in every way, is away at boarding school. The cook-cum-maid, Grace, never quite reaches the standards Mrs Ellis demands.
Mrs Ellis is tidy, organised, and rather lonely - though she wouldn’t admit to the last of those: she has no immediate family nearby and barely knows her neighbours. She longs for the school holidays:
“The holidays were like brightly coloured beads on a frame and stood out with significance in Mrs Ellis’ engagement diary throwing the weeks between into obscurity…
Then April came, and danced its flowery way across the calendar. Easter, and daffodils, and Susan with glowing cheeks… hugging her once again.”
Although not badly off, she’s sensibly frugal, and appreciative of the little luxuries she allows herself (Iris Murdoch would approve). In typical middle-class fashion, she’s acutely aware of minor class distinctions: saying “drawing-room”, rather than “lounge”, eating in the correct way, and being properly attired at all times.
Her paraphrased inner monologue, rooted in quiet domesticity overlaying deep sadness, is very like an Alan Bennett Talking Heads character (see my review HERE), even though Mrs Ellis is significantly younger than most of them.
Image: “The Key of the Fields” (La Clef des champs) by René Magritte (Source)
Then, there’s a twist. Beware of reviews that give too much away. Although there are a couple of clues beforehand, the reader gradually figures it out. Mrs Ellis tries hard to understand and resolve things, becoming increasingly sympathetic, then pathetic, in the process. The final twist is poignant, but not tragic.
Ford Prefect taught us to take a towel. Mrs Ellis teaches us to take ID and a hat.
Short story club
I read this in Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature, by Alberto Manguel, from which I’m reading one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 4 September 2023.
You can read this story [can’t find a legit version online].
You can join the group here.
The plot isn’t particularly original, but Du Maurier masterfully preys on profound and common fears (). Beware of reviews that give too much away.
Mrs Ellis is a widow in her mid-30s, living in Hampstead. It’s probably the twentieth century, but initially - and deliberately - hard to tell exactly when. Her 9-year old daughter, Susan, who she thinks is brilliant in every way, is away at boarding school. The cook-cum-maid, Grace, never quite reaches the standards Mrs Ellis demands.
Mrs Ellis is tidy, organised, and rather lonely - though she wouldn’t admit to the last of those: she has no immediate family nearby and barely knows her neighbours. She longs for the school holidays:
“The holidays were like brightly coloured beads on a frame and stood out with significance in Mrs Ellis’ engagement diary throwing the weeks between into obscurity…
Then April came, and danced its flowery way across the calendar. Easter, and daffodils, and Susan with glowing cheeks… hugging her once again.”
Although not badly off, she’s sensibly frugal, and appreciative of the little luxuries she allows herself (Iris Murdoch would approve). In typical middle-class fashion, she’s acutely aware of minor class distinctions: saying “drawing-room”, rather than “lounge”, eating in the correct way, and being properly attired at all times.
Her paraphrased inner monologue, rooted in quiet domesticity overlaying deep sadness, is very like an Alan Bennett Talking Heads character (see my review HERE), even though Mrs Ellis is significantly younger than most of them.
Image: “The Key of the Fields” (La Clef des champs) by René Magritte (Source)
Then, there’s a twist. Beware of reviews that give too much away. Although there are a couple of clues beforehand, the reader gradually figures it out. Mrs Ellis tries hard to understand and resolve things, becoming increasingly sympathetic, then pathetic, in the process. The final twist is poignant, but not tragic.
Ford Prefect taught us to take a towel. Mrs Ellis teaches us to take ID and a hat.
Short story club
I read this in Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature, by Alberto Manguel, from which I’m reading one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 4 September 2023.
You can read this story [can’t find a legit version online].
You can join the group here.
March 6, 2023
'Split Second' is a story about a day from the life of a typical English housewife living her ordinary life in a pleasant suburb. It is also a story about death, time travel and the necessity of closure.
February 22, 2024
Mrs Ellis is a widow with a fussy temperament who is very particular about the smallest details. She goes out for a walk after lunch, and as she's returning up the hill to her neighborhood, a laundry van takes the corner too quickly. Mrs Ellis feels that the van just missed hitting her.
Returning to her house, she finds other people there. Are they thieves? The policemen that she phones are puzzled since some things she says check out, and other things are wrong. Mrs Ellis, who is always so exact about the most trivial things, finds herself wondering if people are lying to her. They thinks that she's lost her grasp on reality.
The title short story, "Split Second," is on the long side for a short story at about 50 pages, but it reads quickly. I've always enjoyed Daphne du Maurier's writing, and liked the way the author ended the story with a twist.
Returning to her house, she finds other people there. Are they thieves? The policemen that she phones are puzzled since some things she says check out, and other things are wrong. Mrs Ellis, who is always so exact about the most trivial things, finds herself wondering if people are lying to her. They thinks that she's lost her grasp on reality.
The title short story, "Split Second," is on the long side for a short story at about 50 pages, but it reads quickly. I've always enjoyed Daphne du Maurier's writing, and liked the way the author ended the story with a twist.
February 24, 2024
(A review of the title story only.)
“…it was the first of the month, and as she ripped off the page of her daily calendar and saw the bright clean 1 staring at her, it seemed to symbolize a new start to her day.”
Mrs. Ellis begins her day with some tidying up. Her thoughts run to her less-than-perfect late husband, her nearly perfect daughter Susan who is away at boarding school, and the many faults that needed correcting in her servant Grace. All seems normal until she goes for a little walk.
A very compulsive, very readable tale, so much so that you don’t even notice it’s on the long side for a short story. You see du Maurier’s storytelling and mystery-unveiling skills at work here. She excels at detail, and for me, this is what makes her writing so atmospheric.
Plus there’s something haunting in the narrative voice; a loneliness that the character keeps trying to cover up. As the story unfolds, the tone makes more and more sense. It’s really brilliantly done.
Highly recommended.
“…it was the first of the month, and as she ripped off the page of her daily calendar and saw the bright clean 1 staring at her, it seemed to symbolize a new start to her day.”
Mrs. Ellis begins her day with some tidying up. Her thoughts run to her less-than-perfect late husband, her nearly perfect daughter Susan who is away at boarding school, and the many faults that needed correcting in her servant Grace. All seems normal until she goes for a little walk.
A very compulsive, very readable tale, so much so that you don’t even notice it’s on the long side for a short story. You see du Maurier’s storytelling and mystery-unveiling skills at work here. She excels at detail, and for me, this is what makes her writing so atmospheric.
Plus there’s something haunting in the narrative voice; a loneliness that the character keeps trying to cover up. As the story unfolds, the tone makes more and more sense. It’s really brilliantly done.
Highly recommended.
February 27, 2024
In which Karen takes a walk and finds herself in the middle of an episode of The Twilight Zone…
My first du Maurier (as far as I can recall) and a lot of fun, not only for the author’s skill at building a creeping paranoia throughout her tale, as well as crafting an early example of a kind of story that seemed ubiquitous in my childhood, but also for reminding me that a certain toxic personality type has always been with us, even though she takes on new shapes and new names.
++++++++++++++++++
Only “Split Second”; read for GR short story group.
My first du Maurier (as far as I can recall) and a lot of fun, not only for the author’s skill at building a creeping paranoia throughout her tale, as well as crafting an early example of a kind of story that seemed ubiquitous in my childhood, but also for reminding me that a certain toxic personality type has always been with us, even though she takes on new shapes and new names.
++++++++++++++++++
Only “Split Second”; read for GR short story group.
March 3, 2024
I only read the title story for the Short Story Club. A good story, if a little drawn out. Du Maurier does an excellent job of sketching out the main character’s personality and her obstinacy in understanding what had happened to her.
August 24, 2021
Split Second: A mother gets her daughter ready for school, sees her off, and then her world changes when she returns to what she thinks is her house. I found this short story via an old 1950s television program in which Bette Davis (!) plays the part of the mother. The television program is called "Suspicion" and the title of this story there is Fraction of a Second. The year is 1958.
Hands down, I really liked this story.
💥 Highly recommended.
📺
Hands down, I really liked this story.
💥 Highly recommended.
📺
May 7, 2018
Excellent short story! Very Twilight Zone-esque. The main character, Mrs. Ellis, is angry and frightened but a bit dim so never realizes the true nature of her situation. As the reader, however, I was edging on existential horror! Note to self: Never leave home without proper ID! And read the Daphne du Maurier books sitting on my shelves... staring at me...
July 13, 2020
Specifically looking at the story ‘Split Second’. It is the story of a woman called Mrs Ellis who goes out for a walk and returns home believing her home to be taken over by thieves. The police are called in to investigate. The investigation soon turns to Mrs Ellis. Who is she really? Where did she come from. She is not all she seems to be.
A good story, could have been better. I am still in confusion as to who the woman actually is.
A good story, could have been better. I am still in confusion as to who the woman actually is.
February 27, 2024
This is just about the title story and was read with the Short story club.
After almost being knocked over by a laundry van on her way home , a shaken Mrs. Ellis arrives back home only to find other people living there. The police arrive and are immediately puzzled when they find out that while parts of her story check out, others don’t. It was easy to put two and two together and work out the ending of the story (something that would have been less obvious at the time it was written), but it was very well constructed and I have to admit I felt a shiver run down my spine as the truth I already expected was revealed.
After almost being knocked over by a laundry van on her way home , a shaken Mrs. Ellis arrives back home only to find other people living there. The police arrive and are immediately puzzled when they find out that while parts of her story check out, others don’t. It was easy to put two and two together and work out the ending of the story (something that would have been less obvious at the time it was written), but it was very well constructed and I have to admit I felt a shiver run down my spine as the truth I already expected was revealed.
February 24, 2024
A prolonged, yet languid posterized postulation of this story, temporized, when critical mass acceptance was untimely achieved, accelerated up to five stars, from the midly, medlum medium, as representations collided headfirst a persona with an annoyingly irascible, lingering, not malingering, not-femme finale embodied reality finality in, well, a split second; very magically mundanely distracting; time compresses about inbounding gravity-space must have sufficed to tip this vortex
February 25, 2024
Title Story Only:
Mrs. Ellis goes for a walk and has a near miss of being hit by a laundry truck, but the incident changes her day in ways she simply cannot expect or comprehend. I am a fan of Daphne du Maurier and have enjoyed many of her short stories. She brings her flair for mystery and intrigue to a short story in the same way she does to a novel. It is a shame that the stories are not more easily obtained; I would love to read this entire collection.
Mrs. Ellis goes for a walk and has a near miss of being hit by a laundry truck, but the incident changes her day in ways she simply cannot expect or comprehend. I am a fan of Daphne du Maurier and have enjoyed many of her short stories. She brings her flair for mystery and intrigue to a short story in the same way she does to a novel. It is a shame that the stories are not more easily obtained; I would love to read this entire collection.
March 5, 2024
Read the title story only and quite a masterpiece . A widowed woman returns to her house after a walk to find it occupied . Why doesn't anyone believe her when she calls the police ? The way Du Maurier consistently maintains the woman's viewpoint over 50 pages is remarkable and , despite her being a most unsympathetic character , I felt tremendously touched by her plight . Quite terrifying .
September 3, 2025
The title story of this book left me a bit puzzled at first, but actually follows the easiest conclusion.
Du Maurier does an excellent job of sketching out the main character’s personality and writes an intriguing, very well constructed story. Quite terrifying.
Du Maurier does an excellent job of sketching out the main character’s personality and writes an intriguing, very well constructed story. Quite terrifying.
January 16, 2022
Very unusual time travel story! Quotidian and unintentional
March 7, 2024
(Review of titular shirt story only). Oh, what lengths our brain will go to in an effort to normalize our Freak World! A take oft told though.
December 2, 2010
I have been reading a lot of short stories lately and this is a good one! Very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews