I'm just back home from Yorkshire, and it's very late, so I'm probably going to sound incoherent about last night's event at the Parsonage, but here's a quick report, and I'll do a proper one tomorrow. I traveled up to Haworth from London with Tessa (Lady Montgomery), Daphne du Maurier's daughter; and it was the first time she'd returned to the Parsonage since she'd gone there with her mother, when Daphne was researching "The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte", 50 years ago.
It was suitably wuthering when we arrived yesterday afternoon -- bitterly cold, and a low grey sky, so the Parsonage looked at its most mythically bleak. But inside all was warm and humming with voices.
The talk had sold out -- people came from all over the country, and one particularly dedicated woman had traveled from Toronto especially for this event, much to my amazement. (Thankfully, when I spoke to her afterwards, she said she'd thoroughly enjoyed it, and the long journey was worthwhile.)
I felt quite emotional about the whole experience. The Parsonage was where the idea for 'Daphne' rooted itself in my mind, when I was there over five years ago, researching the chapter on Charlotte Bronte's ring in my previous book ("My Mother's Wedding Dress"), and first heard the whispers about the scandals surrounding the former curator, Alex Symington. And it was on a subsequent visit there -- soon after I'd been asked to write the introduction to a new edition of du Maurier's biography of Branwell -- that I began to piece together Daphne's connection with Symington, as well as the mystery of the missing notebook of Emily Bronte's poems...
So to return there, to talk about my finished book, alongside Daphne's daughter, was quite extraordinary. What made it even more emotional (for me, at least) was that the Parsonage had brought out the original manuscripts of Branwell Bronte's poems that Daphne had purchased from Symington, and later donated to the Parsonage (or perhaps returned them to their rightful home, given the shady circumstances under which Symington had acquired them). Added to which, one of Symington's nephews was in the audience last night, and afterwards, he told me a story that I had never heard before, about Alex Symington's murky involvement with a forged Bronte letter... So the story I told in "Daphne" had a sequel last night...
Anyway, my head is literally spinning, so part two tomorrow...
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4 comments:
How lovely to hear more on Symington. I'm waiting for your second installment! I am glad it went so well, though I never thought about asking anyone to smuggle me in as a guest! Too much of a wallflower, me.
There would have been no need for smuggling! You would have been very welcome. Next time, you're my guest (no arguments about it). Second installment after I've taken the dog for a walk.
As soon as I became aware of this book I ordered it. I live in coastal California but grew up in North London, and used to live in Hampstead. I loved 'Rebecca' and just before moving to California in 1998 I read Ruth Picardie's writings about cancer, leaving her family etc. On Sat April 19th I was running a Volunteer Orientation at the wild horse sanctuary where I work - could it be further away from Yorkshire, Cornwall, and Hampstead? not geographically; and yet that was the day I started reading 'Daphne' and have been unable to put it down since; except when forced to by work, children, cooking, dog etc etc. I am fascinated by all these connections and will be an avid reader of this blog. This whole thing brings me 'home' in a literary and spiritual sense! thank you!
I'm loving all the connections Justine and can only begin to imagine how exciting this trail must have been and still is for you. Now that I've finished My Mother's Wedding Dress I can see where the trail began too. It's all fascinating.
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