** spoiler alert ** As a huge fan of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, it was obvious that I had to read this book. But I was disappointed.
I didn't like what Sally Beauman had done with the characters, particularly killing Maxim de Winter. She also seemed to be trying to work up sympathy for Rebecca which, I'm sorry, was not happening. Rebecca was a woman who cheated on her husband with multiple men and didn't seem to feel any remorse for it.
The character of Col. Julyan who in Rebecca was a firm backer of Maxim (who murdered Rebecca) changed to the point where he was more loyal to Rebecca than Maxim. There was only a very brief appearance by the second Mrs de Winter who stuck by her husband through thick and thin and Mrs Danvers who fans of Rebecca will know as the sinister housekeeper was just a shadow of her former self.
Rebecca's Tale didn't live up to expectations for me. If it has one thing going for it's that I actually did finish it because I wanted to know where exactly Sally Beauman was going with it.