I had a hard time staying with this book; the storylines just didn't seem as compelling as I wanted them to be, I guess. I liked Daphne's character, but none of the rest seemed to have any redeeming qualities. ( )

I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to finish this novel. I'm over one hundred pages in and haven't picked it up in almost two months. I guess my problem is that I haven't gotten to any of the secrets and mysteries that are teased about on the back cover. Daphne is having a crap time caring for her husband, I can't get a read on this Symington guy, and I'm feeling no sympathy for the girl who married the stereotypical scholar older man and now seems to be regretting it (am I supposed to have learned her name?--if so I don't recall what it is). Maybe one day I'll come back to Daphne, but I've decided now to move on to books I actually will be able to finish in a more timely manner.

I struggled a bit when I first started reading this book. I was distracted by the really long sentences. I kept having to reread sentences to remember where they began. Either it got better or I got used to the style, because I found myself engrossed in the story. I love tales of literary intrigue and this one has it. Picardie did a nice job of intertwining the stories of the narrator, Daphne du Maurier and Mr. Symington across space and time. I was unaware of the connections betwee du Maurier and J.M. Barrie, so that was interesting as well. Finally I appreciated the acknowledgements. When I read a fictional account of real people, I love to know which parts are real. Justine Picardie anticipated this need and wrapped things up nicely. In the end, a very satisfying read. ( )

Overall, this novel based on the lives of Daphne DuMaurier, J.A. Symington, and a mostly fictional(and, in a nice touch, nameless until the end, narrator) was very enjoyable. Perhaps not having any read any of the Bronte novels hampered my enjoyment of the first half, but I did find the second half very absorbing as all the characters struggled to overcome their metaphorical ghosts. The portrait of the DuMaurier family and their demons was very well. The interweaving of fictional portrayals of real characters, their creations in novels, and purely fictional characters was very clever too. What this book made me most want to do was reread the novels of Daphne DuMaurier while taking into account her family history, which makes it a success to me. ( )

I went into this book with some trepidation: two of the Brontes and one of the du Mauriers are on my top 15 writers list, and I was concerned that a fictionalized account of Daphne du Maurier's work on a biography of Branwell Bronte would just make me angry. The story is told through three points of view: du Maurier while researching the book, J.A. Symington (Bronte expert) during the same time, and a modern-day PhD candidate researching du Maurier researching Bronte.

First, the modern-day story: it's like a combination of a very intentional "Rebecca" tribute/knockoff (there is even a strong, impressive first wife named Rachel and a wimpy second wife aka the PhD candidate) and an academic mystery (think "Possession" and the search for the missing manuscript, Emily Bronte's poetry notebook in this case). Like all of these stories, two people search for the same manuscript which is ultimately found by the more minor character resulting in an academic coup and a dissertation that goes straight to a book deal and, of course, getting the guy.
Oh wait! No, that isn't how the story ends! Which rescued the book for this reviewer. I was fully expecting the cliched ending almost up to the very end, and was delighted when it turned out to have a much more original ending (for this type of book, anyway). Picardie even tells us the unnamed narrator's name in the very last chapter! Something du Maurier didn't even do!

The flashbacks to du Maurier are very interesting. I don't know how much is fictional, event-wise, but I'm guessing not much since Picardie falls all over herself in the credits thanking the du Maurier children for all of their help. Plus, I didn't know all that about the Bronte's manuscripts (I'm being deliberately vague - you'll have to read it yourself!)

In short, this book is a great read, and will be particularly enjoyed by anyone who, like me, is a huge Daphne du Maurier fan and a huge Bronte fan. ( )