Thank you SO much everyone. I feel much better having read all your lovely posts which mean a lot.
tcherry, I'll try to cut it short but Mum looked a lot like the late Daphne du Maurier. We took her on holiday near Fowey about ten years ago. All the bookshops were plastered with books and posters showing D du M in a loose white jacket, grey slacks, dark sunglasses and leaning on a black walking stick. I noticed Mum (never one to miss a dramatic moment) was gradually getting into character helped by the fact she was wearing exactly the same clothes.
We stopped for lunch outside a pub in Charlestown. With ten minutes to go before opening time we wandered down to the quayside to look at the tall ship that was used for the Hornblower series. I noticed Mum wasn't with us and then I spotted her, sitting on a bench, leaning on her stick, gazing out to sea. A coachload of tourists clutching D du M books were walking past doing double takes, nudging eachother and pointing.
Did Mum realise she was causing them to scratch their heads and check out the date of D du M's death?
Of course she did!!