A Bronte Mystery

Daphne du Maurier,Branwell Bronte and Londons literati

Daphne du Maurier,Branwell Bronte and Londons literati
Based on some facts but weaved in fiction,Daphne has a complicated structure,as the story follows three different narratives spread across two centuries. For fans of Daphne du Maurier,it is a treat,providing a glimpse into her life and her many literary incarnations minus the dryness of it reading like a straight biography. For,Picardie adds to it the story of Branwell Bronte,the wild,anguished brother of the Bronte sisters,and several literary figures of the 19th century,who make fleeting appearances through the chapters.

The book opens in the 1950s,when du Maurier,in her 50s,is at her lowest ebb because of her husbands alcoholism and infidelity. At her beloved home Menabilly,she is haunted by the looming presence of her most famous fictional character,Rebecca. To combat her own impending gloom,she begins work on a biography of Branwell for which she writes to the Bronte scholar,J.A. Symington for help. This is based on fact: du Maurier was fascinated by Branwells impact on his more famous sisters and it is well documented in her book The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte that she dedicated to Symington. Their letters to each other are reproduced here. Meanwhile,in contemporary London,an unnamed PhD student is writing a thesis on du Maurier while struggling to keep her marriage to an older,distinguished intellectual intact,eerily similar to the situation of the insipid Mrs de Winter of Rebecca. While du Maurier and Symington are immersed in trying to prove that Branwell is largely the author of Wuthering Heights,the student finds herself becoming obsessed with their correspondence.

The least convincing narratives in Daphne are the mirroring stories,the links between the student who is constantly scrambling for lost texts and Rebecca,and her Maxim de Winter-like husband. Picardies research and imaginative analysis of du Maurier are absorbing enough,but the third narrative ends up being unnecessary and oddly distracting. The clichés about the stunning Cornwall countryside,somehow,seem more convincing from du Maurier herself. In her acknowledgements,Picardie reveals her extensive interviews with the entire du Maurier family to come up with this novel. And she poignantly draws du Mauriers complicated relationship with her possessive father,the

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playwright Gerald du Maurier,and her unpredictable bouts of depression.

Du Maurier scholars and aficionados have long pondered on the incestuous and bisexual undertones that run through her books; Picardie has cleverly recreated du Mauriers relationship with actor Gertrude Lawrence,affectionately referred to as Gertie,and its impact on her crumbling marriage,while drawing references to Julius and Rebecca. She also refers to curious passages in du Mauriers biography of her father,Gerald: A Portrait,which has a certain Daphne as a love-interest,and which she construes as perversely disconcerting. Picardie is at her cold,dissecting best while portraying the disillusioned Symington,an illustrious academic whose career ended in scandal after several prized items went missing from the Bronte Museum where he worked. However,with little fresh material emerging about the Brontes,the novel is open-ended. Du Maurier and Symington are unable to establish whether Branwell is the literary genius they believe him to be.
An engaging literary mystery,although fans of the Brontes and du Maurier are likely to relate more to it.