The Birds and Other Stories

The idea for this famous story came to du Maurier one day when she was walking across to Menabilly Barton farm from the house. She saw a farmer busily ploughing a field whilst above him the seagulls were diving and wheeling. She developed an idea about the birds becoming hostile and attacking him. In her story, the birds become hostile after a harsh winter with little food -- first the seagulls, then birds of prey, and finally even small birds -- all turn against mankind. The nightmarish vision appealed to Hitchcock who turned it into the celebrated film.

“One of the last century's most original literary talents”

'A remarkable imagination continually provokes both pity and terror' OBSERVER

Daphne du Maurier was born in 1906 and educated at home and in Paris. She began writing in 1928, and many of her bestselling novels were set in Cornwall, where she lived for most of her life. She was made a DBE in 1969 and died in 1989.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA With an Introduction by 'Britain's most sophisticated film critic' ( The Times ), David Thomson 'A remarkable imagination continually provokes both pity and terror' OBSERVER 'One of the last century's most original literary talents' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'She wrote exciting plots .. a writer of fearless originality' GUARDIAN 'How long he fought with them in the darkness he could not tell, but at last the beating of the wings about him lessened and then withdrew ... ' A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of 'Monte Verita' promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd ...

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