The Housekeeper

'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

'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

‘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

'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*

This brilliant construction is a Rubik’s Cube that yields multiple meanings while Tremain, a master storyteller, keeps the reader compelled

Financial Times

[The Housekeeper is] arguably as compelling as the original

Country Life

Melancholy, moving and cinematic

Daily Mail

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

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

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

An engaging jeu d’esprit

Spectator

A brooding yet scintillating study of literary ambition

Mail on Sunday

A fine exploration of the constraints that keep two women apart

Observer