I was haunted in my teens by Mary Anne. I didn't discover Rebecca until much later, but never felt the same way about this, far more famous book.
Daphne Du Maurier's story of sex, society and scandal, based on the life of her great-great-grandmother. Cockney girl Mary Anne has known the grinding heel of poverty. Now, with beauty, brains and ambition, and the glittering decadence of Regency London to sustain her, she becomes a Royal mistress.
But how to reckon the cost?
Power, sleaze, corruption...nothing new under the sun...selling commissions....prison, and then what?
"Daphne du Maurier's 1954 novel Mary Anne is a fictionalised account of the real-life story of her great-great-grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke, née Thompson (1776-1852).<a href="Mary Anne (novel) - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a> It was published by Gollancz in the UK and by Doubleday in the US. Mary Anne Clarke from 1803 to 1808 was mistress of Frederick Augustus, the Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827). He was "The Grand Old Duke of York" of the nursery rhyme, a son of King George III and brother of the later King George IV.
Daphne du Maurier Talks to Wilfred De'Ath

Daphne Du Maurier's story of sex, society and scandal, based on the life of her great-great-grandmother. Cockney girl Mary Anne has known the grinding heel of poverty. Now, with beauty, brains and ambition, and the glittering decadence of Regency London to sustain her, she becomes a Royal mistress.
But how to reckon the cost?
Power, sleaze, corruption...nothing new under the sun...selling commissions....prison, and then what?
"Daphne du Maurier's 1954 novel Mary Anne is a fictionalised account of the real-life story of her great-great-grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke, née Thompson (1776-1852).<a href="Mary Anne (novel) - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a> It was published by Gollancz in the UK and by Doubleday in the US. Mary Anne Clarke from 1803 to 1808 was mistress of Frederick Augustus, the Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827). He was "The Grand Old Duke of York" of the nursery rhyme, a son of King George III and brother of the later King George IV.
Daphne du Maurier Talks to Wilfred De'Ath
