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The Housekeeper
- Author
- Rose Tremain
- Narrator
- Caitríona Balfe
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 17 September 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 10 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Narrated by actress Catriona Balfe.
'She lifted me high, high up into another world, and then let me fall . . . Daphne du Maurier stole my life.'
A dramatic story of forbidden love, from enduring bestseller Rose Tremain
Mrs Danowski – known as Danni – is the housekeeper of a grand mansion on the wild coast of Cornwall. When 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.
‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege’ ERIN KELLY
‘Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating’ STACEY HALLS
‘An absolute masterclass’ CLAIRE LYNCH
© Rose Tremain 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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'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
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'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
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‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege. The Housekeeper shines a devastating light on one of the most iconic characters in twentieth-century fiction and the nature of authorship itself. A must-read for all du Maurier fans’
Erin Kelly, author of The Night Stairs
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'It takes a brave author to reimagine Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Luckily, Rose Tremain is more than up to the task… thrilling'
The Times, *Autumn Picks of 2026*
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This brilliant construction is a Rubik’s Cube that yields multiple meanings while Tremain, a master storyteller, keeps the reader compelled
Financial Times
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[The Housekeeper is] arguably as compelling as the original
Country Life
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Melancholy, moving and cinematic
Daily Mail
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Rich in gothic atmosphere, betrayal and longing, this is an absorbing, beautifully written reimagining that will especially resonate with readers and fans of Rebecca
Woman
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What makes Tremain such a master of narrative is the palpable joy she takes in the act of creation. There’s an almost childlike relish to her world-building and a glorious freedom to her imagination. Approaching her fiction in a spirit of pure play, she conjures a world so sensory and atmospheric it completely ensnares the reader
The Times
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Tremain…shares her [Hilary Mantel’s] ability to evoke time and place with specific and tactile details… For those previously unfamiliar with du Maurier’s biography…The Housekeeper will certainly change hour they read Rebecca
Times Literary Supplement
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Rose Tremain
- Narrator
- Caitríona Balfe
- Duration
- 10 hours 10 minutes
- Release Date
- 17 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529946505
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Historical romance, Fiction: gothic, Fiction: inspired by or adapted from other media
Synopsis
Narrated by actress Catriona Balfe.'She lifted me high, high up into another world, and then let me fall . . . Daphne du Maurier stole my life.'A dramatic story of forbidden love, from enduring bestseller Rose TremainMrs Danowski – known as Danni – is the housekeeper of a grand mansion on the wild coast of Cornwall. When 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.‘A sweeping, atmospheric story of forbidden love, power and privilege’ ERIN KELLY‘Exquisitely drawn, poignant and devastating’ STACEY HALLS‘An absolute masterclass’ CLAIRE LYNCH© Rose Tremain 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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