Our Favorites: Daphne du Maurier

Womanica

Acast Creative Studios

History, Society & Culture, Education

4.3 • 920 Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) was an English novelist and playwright whose gothic romance works have been described as “moody and resonant." Many of her novels and short stories have been adapted into films including: Rebecca, Frenchman’s Creek, My Cousin Rachel, The Birds, and Don’t Look Now.

For Further Reading:

For the past six years, we’ve been telling the stories of women you may or may now know– but definitely should. This month, we’re bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from across our back catalog. These are women throughout time and around the world who made their mark.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
0:07.1	For the past six years, we've been telling the stories of women you may or may not know about,
0:12.0	but definitely should. This month, we're bringing back our favorite Womanica episodes from
0:16.9	across the back catalog. These are women across centuries and around the world who made their mark.
0:23.6	With that, here's one of our favorite episodes.
0:30.6	Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kathleen, and this is Womanica. October is the perfect time to delve into all things spooky.
0:42.3	So this month, we're talking about the women who give us goosebumps.
0:45.3	Some are real-life creators of spine-chilling works of fiction.
0:49.3	Others are the subjects of frightening folklore.
0:52.3	Either way, these scream queens are sure to give you a scare.
0:56.7	Today we're talking about a writer whose gothic work spawned many movies and television adaptations,
1:01.6	including the classic films Rebecca and The Birds.
1:06.2	Let's talk about Dame Daphne de Morier.
1:10.6	Davney was born on May 13, 1907, to a successful London theater family.
1:15.6	Due to her family's affluent status, Daphne enjoyed the finer things in life.
1:20.6	She spent much of her youth traveling through Europe and resting at her family's vacation home in Cornwall.
1:29.3	In Cornwall, Daphne found the solitude she craved.
1:32.3	It was there that she wrote her first novel, The Loving Spirit, in 1931.
1:37.3	The book was a hit.
1:39.3	Daphne's atmospheric writing and complex yet relatable characters grabbed readers, so much so that a young
1:45.9	military officer named Frederick Browning traveled to Cornwall to meet the author.
1:50.6	The two fell in love and a year later they wed.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Acast Creative Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Acast Creative Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.