Daphne Du Maurier: Rebecca (2003, Virago)
429 pages
English language
Published July 10, 2003 by Virago.
With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.
This book was almost painfully interior. Just as you get very wrapped up in the narrator's social anxiety and inferiority complex, the plot twists and becomes very engaging. I enjoyed this, especially the gothic elements.
As someone named Rebecca, people always asked me "like the book" all the time and all I knew about the book was (a) it is old, (b) Rebecca was dead from the beginning (c) the narrator was unnamed and (d) it was gothic
For a book pushing 100, it holds up decently well. The unnamed protagonist, the looming atmosphere of Rebecca both are deeply evocative literary choices. The pacing is decent, although the protagonist's flights of fancy (social anxiety?) got a little old. I liked having a narrator who was as unfamiliar with high society at the time as the modern reader was.
I was finally able to read this book. It's been on my "books to read" list since the 1990s... You see, I loved the 1940's film directed by Hitchcock, which I had seen in my teens I think, so I didn't know it was an actual book until my twenties. By then, getting the book and reading it was not part of my top priorities. But when online libraries made it possible to read almost any book (as long as it's in English), I got 'Rebecca'. And I'm done today.
The book is a highly detailed journey into the mind of a 21-year-old English girl from the early 20th century. It's all there, the shyness, the clumsiness, the anxiety, the bruised and devalued self-esteem, the 'goodness' that society pommelled into its youth, her incomprehension of the fact that she can ask for more out of life because she's the kind …
I was finally able to read this book. It's been on my "books to read" list since the 1990s... You see, I loved the 1940's film directed by Hitchcock, which I had seen in my teens I think, so I didn't know it was an actual book until my twenties. By then, getting the book and reading it was not part of my top priorities. But when online libraries made it possible to read almost any book (as long as it's in English), I got 'Rebecca'. And I'm done today.
The book is a highly detailed journey into the mind of a 21-year-old English girl from the early 20th century. It's all there, the shyness, the clumsiness, the anxiety, the bruised and devalued self-esteem, the 'goodness' that society pommelled into its youth, her incomprehension of the fact that she can ask for more out of life because she's the kind of girl that just simply can't be happy because that is above her station. In short, she's the living mirror of awkward youth. And in a way, of the English society between wars, as Mrs. Du Maurier aptly states later in the book when the new Mrs. de Winter wonders how would life be if everyone could forget their petty selfishness and really see what's happening around. This is a very insightful book, and if I hadn't seen the movie, I would have loved it.
So why the 3 stars? Because it's TOO MUCH. The book is written in first person from the perspective of the new Mrs. de Winter, and there were times where I just wanted her to shut up and stop been so self-centred. She's always expecting the worse to happen, always foreseeing how everything will go wrong, visualizing the entire scene with dialogues and all... At one time, even Mr. de Winter notices and asks her to stop! And this brings me to Mr. de Winter and his grooming of a naive 21 year old girl. I know it wasn't seen as grooming in the 1930's, but Mr. de Winter is a selfish bastard that treats the poor girl like a dog, and she fells for it. Mr. de Winter's psychological portrait is also masterly done, but is too much. By the end of the book I was just skipping entire paragraphs, and it didn't seem to matter. Until the abrupt ending that is. Then I had to retrace my steps, just to be entirely sure that the book really ended like that!
So, Mrs. Du Maurier did a wonderful job with her characters and her portrait of English society, its just that she did too much of a good job.
The very cozy and small knitting group I met with last night decided to read Rebecca, so we can talk about it while we knit. It's a summer reading book for Fairhaven high school, so the library has enough copies for all of us. Fortune smiles.
This was a super enjoyable book to read! It had some weaknesses, sure, but it totally kept you guessing and wanting to find out what happens next. It's hard to write a review without spoilers so I'll just say if you haven't read this yet, get to it.
"I dreamt I went to Manderley again."
Rebecca tells the story of woman who marries and becomes the next Mrs de Winter. This woman has to live in the shadows of the first Mrs de Winter; the late Rebecca. As the story twists and turns you sinister story of Rebecca and the home of Manderley begins to unfold. The evil Mrs. Danvers always lurking about, making Mrs de Winter’s life hell and constantly reminder her how great Rebecca was. Rebecca is a wonderful story, full of mystery and gothic themes. I highly recommend it.
I’m interested now to see how Hitchcock handled this story when he adapted it into a film.
