Rose Tremain on 70 years of writing and a new du Maurier story
Rose Tremain traces 70 years of storytelling to a play she wrote at age 12 while at boarding school.
In an interview published 25 September 2026, she said ideas for stories have stayed with her ever since that school play, according to The Guardian. She keeps writing. The conversation looks back across seven decades and forward to new work.
Her recent publishing run has been steady. Her novels include The Gustav Sonata (2016), Islands of Mercy (2020), Lily (2021) and Absolutely and Forever (2023). Four books in seven years is a fast pace for literary fiction, where writers often publish a novel every three or four years.
Her new book turns to another writer’s life. It imagines an origin story for Daphne du Maurier’s gothic masterpiece, The Times reported in early September. In Tremain’s telling, du Maurier has an affair with a housekeeper. The premise links a present-day novelist with an earlier author known for suspenseful, atmospheric fiction.
Tremain also spoke about loss among her contemporaries. Six writers from Granta’s 1983 list of 20 Best of Young British Novelists have died, including Martin Amis. Granta is a literary magazine, and its once-a-decade list aims to pick out emerging British novelists.
Two other names from that generation have faced serious health crises. Salman Rushdie was wounded by an attacker’s knife. Julian Barnes lives with blood cancer.
Tremain has had her own serious illness. In 2019 she underwent a procedure for pancreatic cancer at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. She did not stop working afterwards, and the four novels listed above all followed or straddled that treatment.
At home, her life is quieter. She has a garden in Norfolk. She has a daughter and grandchildren. The garden gives her time outdoors between writing spells.
