The Doll
Polly Samson, Helen Taylor & Ann Willmore discuss The Doll: Short Stories by Daphne DuMaurier
This final Virago publication of DuMaurier short stories has caused quite a stir both within the literary world and among Daphne’s legions of fans.
Thanks to the strong convictions of Fowey’s oracle on DuMaurier’s writing, some lost works were finally uncovered. Bookshop owner, Ann Willmore’s dogged determination drove her to spend hours trawling the internet until she struck gold.
This fascinating discussion on the new publication held the audience from start to finish. Polly Samson, herself a highly respected writer and die hard DuMaurier fan has written the introduction to the collection, Exeter University’s Helen Taylor is a regular speaker at the Festival and, together with Ann Willmore, made for an entertaining and enlightening discussion; their combined passion and knowledge of DuMaurier and her work was quite infectious.
The stories in this latest offering were all written before DuMaurier found literary success, some of the work dating back to her teens and rejected by editors and agents alike. The general consensus on the stage was that these early works are every bit as good as anything DuMaurier produced in later life.
To bring the stories very much alive, the audience were treated to superb readings of extracts by the Scary Little Girls; Sharon Andrew read from The Doll while Rebecca Morden shared Happy Valley.
The morning in the company of Polly, Ann and Helen gave a real insight into the writing, while the readings from Sharon and Rebecca left the audience wanting more – which probably explains the massive queue at the bookshop afterwards!