September/October Book! Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

[Helen, Our Shared Shelf Moderator]

Dear OSS Members:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

It’s one of the most famous first lines of any book and we are thrilled to announce that the winner of the Sept/Oct Members’ Choice Poll - Women Authors: The Horror, is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier by a significant margin. This time, the classics dominated the field with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson coming in second and third.

So many of the books on this list sounded fascinating, even for those of us who are big scaredy cats and we hope to hear more discussion on any of these books on the list from our members.

While Rebecca is more of a gothic thriller, it definitely explores feminist themes: constraints of gender and class restrictions of society and a critique of marriage. There are three important, well-drawn and central female characters. The film version of the book definitely passes the Bechdel test. Also, note the number of times that Du Maurier mentions a female character that should have been a boy, or felt like a boy. Before the word transgender was popular, Du Maurier expressed feelings of being a boy trapped in a girl’s body. From her letters, we know she had love affairs with women, yet did not view herself as a lesbian and was committed to staying married to her husband.

Thinking about horror in feminist terms and why gothic thrillers have been immensely popular with women since the eighteenth century got us thinking about how it’s more than escapism from social convention. Is horror a mirror for our shock and fear, providing a safe, screaming outlet amidst all the too-real terrors of the patriarchy?

This book pick is an all-time favorite of moderator, Katelyn, and she writes: Women authors have always been a force in the horror, thriller and gothic genres. The supernatural provides us with a way to mediate the oft-inexpressible challenges of being a woman. And reading books from these genres may give us additional opportunities to think through and understand our struggles. Not to mention, it’s always fun to read something scary in the autumn.

We can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the book. Happy, haunted reading!

Love,

Team Our Shared Shelf x

[Kathrin]

Thank you so much everyone! I am incredibly excited and can't wait to get started. :-)

[Caroline]

Oh, I love this book! I'm quite pleased. 'Frankenstein' is of course excellent, but so many less people have read 'Rebecca.' I can't wait for the discussions.

[Pam]

Awesome! Lookimg forward to reading

[Chloe]

Looking forward to this one, been meaning to read it for so long now and I know a lot of people love it!

[Cyn]

And... New book on the CR list! Can't wait to start!

[Karen]

Daphne du Maurier is having quite the revival! I am scheduled to read Jamaica Inn with another group in October. I have read Rebecca many years ago and wanted to complete The Three Musketeers before I reread. An interesting overlap of character names occurs. I will be reading the comment thread - always interesting here.

[Lucy]

Rebecca is one of my favourite books ever- so I'm glad it is picked for this month(and October). Excited for a re-read and to see the discussions !

[Ross]

classic treaty on the danger of obsession and deification. powerful book. Interesting from feminist perspective. no spoilers at this point. but reading it again, now has modern feminists will be fascinating.

[Leslie]

I have read this book twice, and loved it both times!
Enjoy everyone!

[My Quiet Pages]

Oh I'm delighted this is our next read. This has been on my the summer tbr list and I didn't get to it yet so this is brilliant news. Interesting info about Du Maurier too...tres cool!

[Katelyn, Our Shared Shelf Moderator]

This has been one of my favorites for a long time. I was so excited when it was voted the winner! Can't wait to reread and discuss with you all.

[Vivian]

Great!! I am not a big fan with horror genre but I am looking forward to read this book :)

[[deleted user]]

So close for Frankenstein. Oh, well, guess I better make another trip to the bookstore. I'm quite excited for this. Horror is my favorite genre of anything, really.

[Elizabeth]

Rebecca is my all time favorite book. When I was a wee high school freshman a few decades ago, our English teacher assigned it to us. I have read it more times than I can count, and still have that same copy. It's kismet that I just join this club, and it is the next reading. It will be interesting to view it in a new light.

[Katelyn, Our Shared Shelf Moderator]

@Elizabeth, I first read it as a high school freshman, as well! I wrote a paper about it. I'm so glad that there are others who share my love of this great novel.

[Elizabeth]

Katelyn wrote: "@Elizabeth, I first read it as a high school freshman, as well! I wrote a paper about it. I'm so glad that there are others who share my love of this great novel."

Maybe we had the same teacher!

[Rebecca]

I cannot wait to read Rebecca for October 📚🍂🍃🍂 wanted to read this book for ages!

[Ticooi]

Loved this book! Now I’m feeling the urge to read it for the second time...

[Britt]

I was too late for the vote and this would not have been my first choice, but I'm curious about this book anyway!

I ordered my copy from the Book Depository - it's currently 50% off (5,61 €) and even cheaper than on Kindle, with free delivery worldwide! :)

https://www.bookdepository.com/Rebecc...

Can't wait to start reading!

[Prachi]

Great book choice, and I really enjoyed reading it. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts on the discussion folder soon:)

[Hira]

I am ready for reading this book. Just read the synopsis and it hit right on target. I am looking forward to this one :)

[Megan]

I am so going to the library to check out this book.

[Lilia]

Really looking forward to reading the book... Now I just need to get a copy.

[Lianne]

Can someone tell me how scary this book is? I'd like to read all books of OSS but I am not very good with horror. Didn't have a problem with reading Frankenstein or Dracula, is it comparable to them in scaryness or more scary? When I was young I could never handle Goosbumps books.

On the subject of gothic novels and female writers, I just finished Austen's Northanger Abbey today. A nice literary critic story about a girl who read too many gothic novels to seperate reality from fiction. Maybe not her best work, but worth a read.

[Katelyn, Our Shared Shelf Moderator]

@Lianne - I'm not good with horror genre, either. This book falls more in line with gothic romance/thriller/suspense than horror. It has some scary moments but it's not super scary. If you're okay with Frankenstein and Dracula, you should be fine.

[Naby ♥]

Britt wrote: "I was too late for the vote and this would not have been my first choice, but I'm curious about this book anyway!

I ordered my copy from the Book Depository - it's currently 50% off (5,61 €) and e..."

I just bought it but it will take 15 days (sometimes less, sometimes more) to arrive, because I live in Argentina. Anyway, I can't wait to read it :')

[Lianne]

Katelyn wrote: "@Lianne - I'm not good with horror genre, either. This book falls more in line with gothic romance/thriller/suspense than horror. It has some scary moments but it's not super scary. If you're okay ..."

Thank you for answering my question. I cannot handle suspense very well either but I will give it a try.

[Charlene]

Lianne wrote: "Katelyn wrote: "@Lianne - I'm not good with horror genre, either. This book falls more in line with gothic romance/thriller/suspense than horror. It has some scary moments but it's not super scary...."

Daphne du Maurier was inspired by the Bronte sisters. It has been mentioned the similarities between Jane Eyre and Rebecca. It is a more traditional style gothic.

[Charlene]

Emma wrote: "Charlene wrote: "Lianne wrote: "Katelyn wrote: "@Lianne - I'm not good with horror genre, either. This book falls more in line with gothic romance/thriller/suspense than horror. It has some scary m..."

Here is the link to her website with the information. http://www.dumaurier.org/menu_page.ph...

Plus Daphne du Maurier also wrote a biography on Branwell. The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë

[Diane]

I haven't read this in years so it will be fun to read it again as a much older adult.

[Ashley]

Yes! This was my favourite book growing up so it should be fun to revisit again many years later.

[Passing Places]

I ordered this book when I saw it was on the voting list before it had won the poll! I've been looking for an excuse to read it - it kept cropping up! Excited to start it :)

[Anna Francesca]

I already own a copy of Rebecca but still haven’t gotten around to reading it, now I have the perfect reason to!

[Sara]

I read this book recently with lukewarm expectations, and it blew me away. What a perfect choice!

[Harm]

Helen wrote: "Dear OSS Members:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

It’s one of the most famous first lines of any book and we are thrilled to announce ... Rebecca

I have been sloppy lately keeping up with all the books here but today went out of my way to order the new hardcover edition of the poems by Rupi Kaur and also the 80th anniversary edition of Rebecca.

While the autumn rains are jumping the gun outside it seems indeed exciting to delve into some classic horror for the season.

So we can explore the sinister writings of an author that is safely dead and the loving words of someone who is most certainly not.

[Justine]

This book is one of my favorite of all times!! So glad it was chosen! (currently reading Daphné du Maurier's biography, Manderley Forever: The Life of Daphne du Maurier by Tatiana de Rosnay!)

[Eileen]

Lianne wrote: "Can someone tell me how scary this book is? I'd like to read all books of OSS but I am not very good with horror. Didn't have a problem with reading Frankenstein or Dracula, is it comparable to the..."

I would not call this "horror," and it's really not part of any defined genre. It's more of a psychological thriller — and a great one. This book was written before the genrefication of literature took hold.

[Kelci]

Rebecca is my favorite book of all time! I read it ten years ago during my freshman year of high school. So excited!

[Natalia]

I'm new at OSS. When will start? In my case I have got the book for years and I haven't read yet

[Kim]

Perhaps the moderators can start a thread for the other books in the poll?

[Raina]

SUPER excited to read!

[Corinne]

Excited — great choice

[Aqsa]

I wanna get to this!

[Apeksha✨]

I love this book! Having read this in my childhood, Rebecca is one of those classics that was not too popular among my peers, but I nevertheless picked it off the rack of my school library. And having recently re-read it I am just mesmerized by many things that Daphne De Maurier has tried to combine together in this masterpiece to get its readers really hooked on. Waiting for hearing more experiences from fellow readers here :)

[Eleanor]

Great choice! I actually started this book just before the announcement and loving it so far. x

[Liset]

I am very curious about this one! It’s not a book I would’ve chosen myself. Nevertheless I make it a goal to read books I would not pick. Seeing how so many people are happy to read this book, I am sure it’ll be a very satisfying read.

[Claudia]

I LOVE this book 😍Du Maurier is always a win with me. The movie adaptation by Hitchcock is also great!

[Candleflame23]

Can’t wait

[Mary-Faith]

I'm so excited to hear that we'll be reading this one! I've been wanting to read it forever!