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Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier,

Sally Beauman (Afterword)

Start date: December 1, 2020

Finish date: December 31, 2020

Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf, December 2020

Revisit the Shelf Reread, May 2015

Contemporary Classic Group Read, Januar…more
[close] Revisit the Shelf, December 2020

Revisit the Shelf Reread, May 2015

Contemporary Classic Group Read, January 2012

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Feb 18, 2013 Franky rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-hard-challenge, romance

“Moonlight can play odd tricks upon the fancy, even upon a dreamer’s fancy. As I stood there, hushed and still, I could swear that it was not an empty shell but lived and breathed as it had lived before.”

Rebecca has become one of my favorites, with its heavy atmosphere and setting, mood, its building suspense and tension, and its slowly but effectively told plot. While reading I was reminded of Bronte’s Jane Eyre, as it has many similar elements and qualities. However, I think that the biggest “Moonlight can play odd tricks upon the fancy, even upon a dreamer’s fancy. As I stood there, hushed and still, I could swear that it was not an empty shell but lived and breathed as it had lived before.”

Rebecca has become one of my favorites, with its heavy atmosphere and setting, mood, its building suspense and tension, and its slowly but effectively told plot. While reading I was reminded of Bronte’s Jane Eyre, as it has many similar elements and qualities. However, I think that the biggest difference lay in the main protagonist. Jane is clearly the star of Bronte’s novel, showing a strength, resolve and independence that is admirable. Here, in Rebecca, it’s not any one person, but Manderley itself that holds influence over all. No, not the mousy narrator, nor ghostly Rebecca, nor sinister Mrs. Danvers, not even complicated, brooding Maxim hold more power than Manderley. Manderley creeps into the conscience of all, having a life of its own. It is a symbol of all the mystery within the novel.

The plot is not complicated, yet the mysteries that come to the surface make it entertaining, and the author does an excellent job of withholding key information to keep us guessing. A young, inexperienced, naïve, young woman marries Maxim De Winter, a mysterious man whose wife had died a year earlier. Stepping into grand Manderlay, our unnamed narrator is clearly in over her head. Within her own mind, she has an overly romanticized image of what life and marriage will be like within these walls. In truth, she barely knows Maxim, and certainly doesn’t know the many other secrets that surround the estate. Manderley is an immense residence, a sprawling estate, and Maxim’s new wife, who comes from a humble, lower class background, is overwhelmed with her new role. She must learn how to manage the place, entertain guests, be the proper host, and, in short, be the new Mrs. De Winter. These are big shoes, indeed, though and she is constantly reminded that she isn’t the other Mrs. De Winter. She’s no Rebecca, seems to be the whispered word from the servants and guests. As Maxim’s sister Beatrice reminds the new Mrs. De Winter, “you are so very different from Rebecca.” For Rebecca De Winter is seemingly more alive than dead, and makes her presence felt. As the narrator tries to adjust to her new life, she learns more about Maxim, Rebecca, and the many secrets from years past.

Another place where De Mauerier excels is in the timing and pacing. What would a Gothic, atmospheric story be without key, unforeseen and unexpected shifts and twists? There are a few key shifts that throw us off a bit and come unexpected. Things aren’t always exactly as they seem; neither are people. There’s also a level of ambiguity about the passage of time and the world between life and death. This is especially evident when the narrator explores the very rooms that Rebecca lived in, the very clothes that she wore, the bed she slept in, even the notebook that she wrote in. It seems that Rebecca is all around.

Rebecca is simply an amazing novel, and a definite read for a rainy, dreary, cold night by the fireside. Also, there is an excellent film version done by Hitchcock (although the plot is altered somewhat).

Definitely recommended!
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35 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2017 Teri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2017, classic

A great classic. Rebecca is a gothic story about a woman who falls in love with an older gentleman Maxim De Winter, the owner of Manderley estate in England. De Winter is a new widower who meets the "new Mrs. De Winter" while on holiday as a way to grieve for his departed wife. After a honeymoon in Italy, Maxim and his new wife return to Manderley where she has to learn to fit in. Once at the estate, the true origins of her predecessor's demise begins to come to light and life at Manderley is fa ...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Kallie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: women, fiction-suspense, gothic

I read this multiple times in my early teens, when gothic novels held a strong appeal. I think this is the edition, with the artwork that appealed to me at the time. Last night, I was watching the film, directed by Hitchcock and so atmospheric. For the first time (doh) I noted the resemblance to Jane Eyre: moody, cynical man; young, trusting woman; beastly, hidden (in whatever way, dead or alive) first wife who haunts the story. Anyway, just out of curiosity I might give this another try.

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