The Housekeeper: A Novel

In this enthralling novel—already in production as a major movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Catriona Balph and Emma Laird— the award-winning author of Absolutely & Forever and The Road Home brilliantly reimagines Daphne du Maurier, and the origins of her timeless bestseller Rebecca.

This daring and emotional tale of an illicit affair is narrated by a Mrs. Danowski, known as Danni, who is hired as housekeeper at Manderville Hall, Lord Grenville-Whithers’ mansion on the wild coast of Cornwall. A loyal and lonely woman troubled by childhood memories of alienation, Danni dreams of finding love.

Those dreams are fulfilled when Daphne du Maurier arrives at Manderville Hall for lunch with Grenville-Whithers. Succumbing to her secret sexual desire for women, Daphne begins a love affair with Danni, meeting on the housekeeper’s days off in the secluded boathouse at Manderville Cove. For both women, this forbidden passion is both beautiful and terrifying.

But of course such a love cannot last—and both Danni and Daphne must deal with the aftermath of their passion. While Danni struggles to find a new place in the world, Daphne reconfigures the experience into her most famous work, Rebecca, with surprising results.

Praise for Absolutely and Forever:

"Stunningly beautiful and deeply moving." - Simon Schama

"The perfect Tremain novel . . . . English, dark, and yearning . . . . Remarkable . . . . [Tremain shows] us the things that make every human life extraordinary." - The Times (UK)

"Funny, piercing, and singular . . . this gorgeous, pitch-perfect novel is a world unto itself . . . . It's powerful, too . . . . I can't fathom the reason why you wouldn't rush straight out to buy it." - The Observer (UK)

"This is a book about the comic, painful, life-long search for human understanding. Not a word is wasted; not a phrase trite. It is mesmerizing, masterly, and profoundly moving." - Financial Times