The Housekeeper
Will be published approx. on 17. September 2026
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-1-78474-593-6 (ISBN)
Description
'Daphne du Maurier stole my life.'
Mrs Danowski - known as Danni - is the housekeeper of a grand house on the wild coast of Cornwall. When a glamorous young writer, Daphne du Maurier, visits Manderville Hall to research her new novel, she and Danni are drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair.
For Danni, it is an all-consuming love; for Daphne a submission to long-suppressed desires. But their fragile secret is vulnerable to prying eyes and destined for heartbreak. When Daphne's novel launches to triumphant success, Danni is distraught to find herself transformed into a malign and jealous character on the page. She seeks respite from the hurt by telling her own story: The Housekeeper.
What unforeseen encounters, what forbidden feelings can inspire a writer? With flair and panache, Rose Tremain has invented the story of how a great novel of the past came into being and in turn creates a masterwork of her own.
Mrs Danowski - known as Danni - is the housekeeper of a grand house on the wild coast of Cornwall. When a glamorous young writer, Daphne du Maurier, visits Manderville Hall to research her new novel, she and Danni are drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair.
For Danni, it is an all-consuming love; for Daphne a submission to long-suppressed desires. But their fragile secret is vulnerable to prying eyes and destined for heartbreak. When Daphne's novel launches to triumphant success, Danni is distraught to find herself transformed into a malign and jealous character on the page. She seeks respite from the hurt by telling her own story: The Housekeeper.
What unforeseen encounters, what forbidden feelings can inspire a writer? With flair and panache, Rose Tremain has invented the story of how a great novel of the past came into being and in turn creates a masterwork of her own.
Reviews / Votes
'Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating. Rose Tremain is masterful in her depiction of a summer romance, and how a shared experience can be so utterly different for the people involved' * Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars * 'An absolute masterclass in character and style. The Housekeeper is a novel of patient observation and irresistible passion all at once. Just as this novel grows from between the lines of another, so we see the great layering of Tremain's writing. It is, in some ways, a book of half-lived lives. It is also a book of what can be imagined, the possibilities of desires followed, ambitions pursued' * Claire Lynch, author of A Family Matter *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
750 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78474-593-6 (9781784745936)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Rose Tremain's novels and short stories have been published in thirty countries and have won many awards, including the Orange Prize (The Road Home), the Dylan Thomas Award (The Colonel's Daughter and Other Stories), the Whitbread Novel of the Year (Music & Silence) the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and France's Prix Femina (Sacred Country), and the South Bank Sky Arts Award (The Gustav Sonata). Her most recent novel is Absolutely and Forever (2023), which was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. The Housekeeper is currently in production as a major film, directed by Richard Eyre, with script by Tremain, and starring Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. Rose Tremain was made a CBE in 2007 and a Dame in 2020. She lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer, Richard Holmes.