Finally got around to reading REBECCA. This is one of those books that I've had on my shelves for years but for some reason never got around to reading even though I've read and enjoyed several other novels by du Maurier. Well, I'm sorry I waited so long to get to this. It's a wonderful novel that should be read by most everyone. I know I saw the Alfred Hitchcock 1940 movie version of this many years ago and I must have retained enough of the film in the back of my mind because many of the scenes in Rebecca seemed very familiar. I now want to see the movie version again. I found that it's available on Youtube so I'll probably be revisiting it soon.
Anyway, the novel was one of those that you don't want to put down -- full of suspense and foreboding. It's the story of a young woman who meets Mr. Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo, falls in love with him, and returns to his estate, Manderley, on the coast of England. When they return there, the new Mrs. de Winter (we are never told her first name), is like a fish out of water. She is the new mistress of the estate but she is from a very humble background and is very shy and withdrawn on top of that. Right away she encounters the ominous Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper who doted on the former mistress of the house, Rebecca, who was drowned in an apparent accident one year previously. Rebecca seems to haunt Manderley, not as an actual spirit, but as a somewhat eerie presence wherever Mrs. de Winter turns. Rebecca seemed to have been loved by all but as the novel progresses it is apparent that Rebecca may have led a somewhat secret and scandalous double life. The novel gets more and more foreboding as it progresses. The boat Rebecca drowned in is found and maybe her death was not an accident. The way the novel starts out with a dream of a ruined Manderley is a definite foreshadowing of things to come and provides a dark and mysterious mood throughout the novel.
I would definitely recommend this novel. It is a classic that should be read.
Anyway, the novel was one of those that you don't want to put down -- full of suspense and foreboding. It's the story of a young woman who meets Mr. Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo, falls in love with him, and returns to his estate, Manderley, on the coast of England. When they return there, the new Mrs. de Winter (we are never told her first name), is like a fish out of water. She is the new mistress of the estate but she is from a very humble background and is very shy and withdrawn on top of that. Right away she encounters the ominous Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper who doted on the former mistress of the house, Rebecca, who was drowned in an apparent accident one year previously. Rebecca seems to haunt Manderley, not as an actual spirit, but as a somewhat eerie presence wherever Mrs. de Winter turns. Rebecca seemed to have been loved by all but as the novel progresses it is apparent that Rebecca may have led a somewhat secret and scandalous double life. The novel gets more and more foreboding as it progresses. The boat Rebecca drowned in is found and maybe her death was not an accident. The way the novel starts out with a dream of a ruined Manderley is a definite foreshadowing of things to come and provides a dark and mysterious mood throughout the novel.
I would definitely recommend this novel. It is a classic that should be read.
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