User:Ann Bookends Willmore

Ann Willmore and husband David own and run Bookends of Fowey, a second hand and Antiquarian bookshop, catering to a more specialised readership thematically based on Cornwall and including a wonderful selection of Du Maurier and Quiller-Couch gems; the latter selling new books, stationery and cards. Ann has recently shot to national literary fame after discovering several ‘lost’ Du Maurier short stories, notably the controversial, The Doll, the subject of which rewrites fiction as we know it in the 1920s.

Her own story is full of dreams, dedication and passion. She confesses to being a Du Maurier fan “since forever”, with a complete collection of Du Maurier first editions. Coming to Fowey on a day trip from holidaying in Devon, “she loved it here”, and kept coming back whenever she could, sometimes alone, sometimes with her husband. Central to her fascination with the town were obviously the links to Du Maurier and her life, but also the bookshop, and on one visit, it was up for sale. She decided to take “a huge leap into the unknown” and bought it with her husband. “I never regretted it for a minute”, she says. The move brought her even closer to Du Maurier, leading to a groundbreaking discovery that even she hadn’t anticipated.

Ann moved on to collecting Du Maurier-related material from magazines and journals of the time. She knew that the authoress had written about 50 short stories that were often published in women’s magazines in the 30s, 40s and 50s. She also knew that a story, The Doll, referenced in Du Maurier’s autobiography, existed. Sure enough, the long lost story was unearthed in a 1937 in a compendium of work rejected by publishers and magazines, entitled The Editor Regrets. Ann’s labour of love had finally paid off.

Kits Browning, Du Maurier’s son, was delighted: “I only wish it had been discovered when my mother was still alive. It’s a very dark and disturbing story for someone who was 21 … It’s all about a male sex doll.” Ann herself, couldn’t quite believe what she was reading, “Even in this day, when anything goes, it’s still quite shocking. For a young, single woman of her quite posh background … I can understand why it wasn’t published at the time!”

Ann has given talks at The Fowey Festival of Words and Music.