es whether in spite of all
its confidentialness _Trilby_ makes an intimate revelation. The rare
quality of intimacy, that is the greatest thing in the very greatest
novels.

The "boom" of _Trilby_, we are told, surprised du Maurier immensely, for
he had not taken himself _au serieux_ as a novelist. Indeed it rather
distressed him when he reflected that Thackeray never had a "boom."

[Illustration: Unpublished drawing from sketch-book]

Section 5

Although du Maurier had said that his head was full of plots the supply
seemed to have run thin by the time he set to work on _The Martian_. The
value of this book rests with its autobiographical character. The knot
is not tied in the first half and unravelled in the second, after the
approved manner in which plots should be woven. The story is chiefly a
record of people and places, vivid, and written in a breathless, chatty
style. It somewhat resembles the conversation of a boy on returning from
his holidays. It reveals a perfectly amazing resource in imparting life
to mere description. As a writer, du Maurier seemed immediately to
acquire a style unlike that of anyone else. Everything is described with
a zest that carries the reader along, and this manner is even extended
to things that are not worth describing. But he was always slightly
apologetic with pen in hand, never permitting himself the professional
air, or giving a full challenge to criticism by disclaiming the
privileges of a distinguished amateur.

In _Peter Ibbetson_ the artist told the story of his childhood; in
_Trilby_ he recounted the brightest period of his Bohemian youth; in
_The Martian_ he records the nature of the shock he received from
threatened blindness, and the depression of days before his genius had
discovered itself and revealed the prospect of a great career to him.
The effect of Pentonville, the grey suburb, and of the absence of worthy
companions upon a romantic, highly-strung young man in _Peter Ibbetson_
is quite autobiographical, as is the description of student life in
Paris by which afterwards the uninspiring environment is replaced. The
continuation of the studentship at Antwerp, the consultation with the
specialist at Dusseldorf, completes the story of du Maurier's life until
he came to London. There is literally nothing that a biographer could
add to it. And du Maurier wrote his autobiography thus, in tales, which
are histories too, in their graphic description of the aspect of