Format: Paperback. Publisher: Avon Books. Age Range: Adult. Author: Daphne du Maurier. Language: English. Street Date : July 30, TCIN : UPC : Description About the Book Rebecca has been dead for several months, but her sinister influence is still very much alive at Manderley, as Maxim de Winter's second wife soon comes to realize.
So the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter remembered the chilling events that led her down the turning drive past ther beeches, white and naked, to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast. With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. Danvers -- still loyal. And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs.
Review Quotes "Du Maurier is in a class by herself. Report incorrect product info. Shipping details Estimated ship dimensions: 1. Return details This item can be returned to any Target store or Target. This item must be returned within 90 days of the in-store purchase, ship date or online order pickup.
See return policy for details. See the return policy for complete information. More to consider. Featured products. Show more From the manufacturer Loading, please wait In Manderley, the narrator uncovers and unravels more about the beautiful Rebecca, Max's dead wife.
Rebecca's memory is kept alive by Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper, with reminders throughout Manderley of Rebecca's never-ending and never-forgotten presence. Rebecca is described as beautiful, intelligent, outspoken and confident- everything that our narrator is not.
Rebecca is almost a magical creature, a goddess, something forbidden that the narrator is unbearably tempted to find out more, obsessive and jealous of this woman.
She feeds her paranoia by imagining scenarios of what others must think of her as the new Mrs de Winter; how little and worthless they must say she is in comparison to Rebecca. This further fuels our narrators feelings of being an outcast, self-doubt and anxiety. I was badly bred. When Rebecca died she is devastated and angry at Max's behaviour.
She sets out to reinforce Rebecca's memory to the staff, to Max and to the new Mrs de Winter through cold and manipulative ways. Mrs Danvers would be described as the 'villain' of this novel with "her eyes, dark and sombre, in that white face of hers". It is clear from the start that Mrs Danvers does not like the new Mrs De Winter and is cruel, "The expression on her face, loathsome, triumphant. The face of an exulting devil. She stood there,smiling at me.
Daphne Du Maurier does a brilliant job at describing the characters, their emotions, their body movements, their tone of voice, that these characters are so life like and real. I absolutely loved some of the secondary characters in this book: Mr Crawley, the faithful companion to Max de Winter, a true gentleman and friend to our narrator, and the loveable Ben, the simple minded man that stays on the beach- who is much more perceptive than anyone gives him credit for.
These characters were so well thought out and planned and were interwoven into the plot magnificently. In addition, the description of Manderley was so well done, from the Happy Valley of flowers to the cold, steel grey sea, you felt yourself immersed in the settings, so wonderfully described that you could almost touch them. Overall this book is so much more than a gothic romance. It covers scandal, lies, love, the other woman, jealousy and self-identity.
A very highly enjoyable read that I wish I could turn back time so that I could experience the book as a first-time read all over again!
View all 65 comments. Story The second wife of a wealthy widower you'll never know her name tries to figure out how to fit into her new family when it seems there's now way how. With many twists and turns, both suspense and a bit of romance, this story captures your attention immediately and takes you on a path of great intrigue. Just when you think you've fi 5 stars to Daphne du Maurier 's Rebecca. Just when you think you've figured it out, du Maurier confounds and surprises you -- in a good way.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in Manderley name of the estate where the book takes place to catch all the hidden expressions and conversations. Strengths 1. Mystery and Intrigue 2. Character Development Weaknesses 1. Some unanswered questions small ones. I want more.
Final Thoughts Read it. Experience it. Don't just watch the movie adaption. You want to make up your own mind about what everyone looks like and acts like.
There was almost a Broadway show made based on this book; I was super-excited, but funding failed. Oh well, maybe in the future. About Me For those new to me or my reviews I write A LOT. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. View all 60 comments. What it does have is one of the best settings of all time. Also, gorgeous writing. An acceptable compromise.
Rebecca follows our nameless narrator, a poor girl who goes from being the lady-in-waiting or something to a very unpleasant woman to being the second wife of a rich man.
Same thing, am I right? Buh dum ch! Said rich man is Maxim de Winter, who lives in the bestestest place in all England: Manderley. Sounds like the jackpot, no?
Plus the creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, is obsessed with Rebecca. Danvers did creep me out a time or two. And while I found some minor plot points to be very predictable, some of the bigger ones still surprised me.
So yes, the romance was totally meh for me, and yes, the story took me a while to get into as in more than half the book , but it was far from a wash. Manderley really is like a character view spoiler [and I felt its loss like a death. And I liked our little nameless narrator too. Even though she drove me crazy with secondhand embarrassment every other page. Bottom line: This is legendary for a reason.
Pretend like my opinion on that matters. View all 42 comments. For whatever reason, I had never made it to this highly acclaimed book.
In a bit of a reading rut, I decided to tackle it to change things up a bit. Man, am I ever glad that I did! This book was great! I went in to this book blind, knowing only that it was a classic. I didn't have any idea of what I was in for, but I anticipated some sort of sweet and innocent love story like the Bronte sisters are known for.
While there was a sort of love story It was suspenseful and downright creepy at times. There was an eerie sense of unease that pervaded this novel. Despite being nearly a century old, the effect was not diminished in the least.
The story begins in Monte Carlo, where the wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter befriends the young, paid companion of a rich, elderly social climber. When her shallow employer falls ill, the young lady, who remains nameless, is invited to spend time gallivanting around Monte Carlo with Mr.
When her employer regains her health, they are set to return to America immediately. Heartbroken, she seeks out Mr. Only, he has another proposition for her. Happy for the first time since the death of his beloved wife, Rebecca, he is not ready to part ways with the vibrant young lady. He proposes marriage. She accepts, thinking that all of her dreams have come true. She has no idea of what lies ahead of her. After the rushed nuptials, Maxim and his new wife return to his famous country estate, Manderley.
It doesn't take long for the mood to turn darker. Danvers, the head housekeeper, is more than happy to remind her at every opportunity that she will never be able to measure up.
On top of everything else, Maxim seems to be a different man at the estate. He is moody, withdrawn and seems to keep her at arms-length. As she tries to navigate her new high-class lifestyle, to which she had been completely unaccustomed, he seems almost antagonistic at times.
The longer she stays at Manderley, the more she comes to realize that things are not as they seem. Rebecca had secrets and the more the second Mrs. There is a big twist, which I didn't see coming, but can't say that I was particularly shocked by. It changes everything and casts new light on the mystery surrounding Rebecca's untimely death. Since I am primarily a romance reader, I did wish that the love story was a more critical piece of this story.
I can't say that I ever really believed that Mr. I never felt that there was a genuine emotional connection between the two, which made the story a little less enjoyable for me. Overall, I still thought that this was a fantastic story. I was surprised by how easily this story was able to transcend time, still proving to be chilling and compelling today. It was a great choice to change it up for me.
If you haven't read it, I definitely recommend this one. I hear that the movie is fabulous also, so I plan to check it out as well in the near future. View all 56 comments. Like all great openings it captures our imagination and makes us want to read more.
The rhythm is insistent, the mention of dreams intrigues us and the word "Manderley" echoes somewhere in our subconscious. We are already in danger of falling under Daphne Du Maurier's hypnotic spell. Generally regarded as Daphne du Maurier's masterpiece, Rebecca has never been out of print since it was first published in - a comparatively early novel.
A tempestuous gothic romance, it was an immediate success, making its author into a household name. The story of the mysterious, glamorous ex-wife, the mousy replacement, the brooding and brusque Maxim de Winter and all the intrigue and drama which circle around these three characters is too well-known to need repeating in precis here.
Rebecca captured the feel of the age, drawing on the glamour of country society and the feeling of impending catastrophe that permeated the pre-war years. Du Maurier knew this society well, having been born into a wealthy family in London in She herself was a tomboy as a child however, and much preferred visiting the family's holiday home of Ferryside, to participating in London society.
All these threads of her life, and many others, come together in this masterly novel. Many people love its high romanticism, but Daphne du Maurier became irritated over the years with people calling it a romantic novel. She insisted that it was in part "a study in jealousy" and also a depiction of a powerful man and a weak woman. Our first introduction to Manderley comes when the narrator is also approaching the estate for the first time.
It is an ominous journey, laden with foreboding, "This drive twisted and turned as a serpent, scarce wider in places than a path, and above our heads was a great colonnade of trees, whose branches nodded and intermingled with each other Even the midday sun would not penetrate the interlacing of those green leaves, they were too thickly entwined, one with another.
She has a far calmer view, describing, "a thing of beauty, exquisite and faultless, lovelier even than I had ever dreamed, built in its hollow of smooth grassland and mossy lawns, the terraces sloping to the gardens, and the gardens to the sea. She looks through the window observing, "a hurrying cloud hid the sun for a moment as I watched, and the sea changed colour instantly, becoming black, and the white crests were then very pitiless suddenly, and cruel.
Menabilly had been empty for 20 years; it was totally covered with ivy and in a terrible state of decay at this time, but Du Maurier was determined to to live there one day. She had taken her three young children trespassing in the grounds a couple of years earlier, and apparently they all peered through the broken windows as she kissed the house and told them it was her favourite place. The family were living in "Ferryside", in Fowey, about four miles away.
She did subsequently manage to lease Menabilly for 20 years, arranging all the renovations herself and the family moved there. It came as a great shock to her when many years later as an old woman she was told to leave the house she loved. But that is another story. The actual setting of Manderley also mirrors the setting of Menabilly, which is hidden away in the woods by the Gribbin Head outside Fowey.
Manderley has such presence in the novel that the reader senses it more as a character than a place. In fact in many of Du Maurier's works places are more important than people.
While she was in Egypt, she had even confessed to missing Menabilly more than her two children. Her husband, a commanding officer in the Grenadier Guards, was stationed in Alexandria, and this is where she wrote the first rough draft of Rebecca.
In she returned home - not to Menabilly yet, but to "Ferryside", which the Du Maurier family bought in the 's, and which is still the family home to this day. Manderley was also partly based on Milton Hall in Cambridgeshire, which Du Maurier visited in her youth. It was here she conceived the character of Mrs Danvers, after seeing a tall dark housekeeper there.
The insidiously malevolent character of Mrs Danvers is an extraordinary creation, with her white "skull's face" and her obsession with Rebecca. Another twisted, tortured and essentially broken character, who nevertheless exercises a powerful hold over weaker personalities, "I shall never forget the expression on her face, loathsome, triumphant.
She stood there, smiling at me. And who apparently signed "Jan Ricardo" with a dramatic great R - a portentous curlicue that is emulated in the book, "The name Rebecca stood out black and strong, the tall and sloping R dwarfing the other letters.
Daphne Du Maurier herself was notoriously shy and withdrawn. She writes herself into the story as the unconfident narrator. The fact that this viewpoint character is nameless and almost anonymous has always intrigued readers of the novel. The most obvious interpretation is that the second timid Mrs de Winter had such a low self-image that she becomes a mere shadow.
The truth is rather more prosaic. Du Maurier couldn't think what to call the character at first, and so she didn't call her anything. As the novel progressed it became a challenge. And at some point presumably, she realised that the lack of a name cleverly symbolised the character's lack of self-worth. We do know that the narrator is "not yet 21" , as a contrast to Maxim's given age of 42, and she went to a fairly well-to-do boarding school.
We even have glimpses of the narrator's name, which tempts us to believe that at some point it may be revealed to us. There is a reference early on to her name on an envelope being spelled correctly; that it is a rare occurrence.
And Maxim says, "You have a very lovely and unusual name Alfred Hitchcock memorably made an Oscar-winning film of Rebecca in His casting of Laurence Olivier, who immortalised the moody figure of Maxim, was perfect in Du Maurier's opinion.
Her overall view of the film may not have been quite so favourable, however. Subsequent versions tend to stay closer to the plot, but in this initial film, Daphne Du Maurier's ending was considered far too shocking and "immoral" for the audiences of the time, with the perpetrator of a serious crime escaping justice, and so it was changed.
Interestingly, in the Hitchcock film, the whole crew called her "Daphne" on the shoot, although the character is written as "I" in the script. Hitchcock's was the start of many dramatisations and adaptations of the novel; its popularity continues even now. There has even, perhaps surprisingly, been a musical, an overblown pantomime-styled adaptation by all accounts, where Mrs Danvers was "boooed" every time she came on to the stage.
Maxim de Winter, viewed through the eyes of the woman who loves him, is an enigmatic character. In fact Rebecca is heavily in debt to "Jane Eyre" , with one crucial dramatic scene at the end lifted in its entirety. Maxim de Winter has all the desirable features of a typical masculine Victorian hero; he is handsome, heroic, but also very irritable.
His proposal of marriage to his second wife consists in him snapping out the words, "I'm asking you to marry me, you little fool".
Essentially he is a haunted and very private character. The narrator despairs, as he calls her "my sweet child" or "my good child" when he particularly wants to patronise or scold her. On one occasion she notes gloomily, "The smile was my reward. Like a pat on the head for Jasper. Good dog then, lie down, don't worry me any more. Not the right sort of knowledge Listen my sweet There is a certain type of knowledge I prefer you not to have.
Actually, such jarring notes are much more noticable in Du Maurier's novels where the viewpoint character is female. The author said herself that she felt much more comfortable writing male characters. She even went so far as to say that she felt herself to be a man in a woman's body.
Nevertheless, even though in general female characters are possibly not portrayed as convincingly as male ones in Du Maurier's stories, in this particular case it does work. Rebecca is a highly charged novel, and such portrayals and attitudes need to be viewed as being within the mores and context of this type of novel, observing its conventions.
It is essentially a gothic melodrama, redolent with grotesque characters such as Mrs Danvers, and to a lesser degree the appalling Mrs Van Hopper, the shallow spoilt wealthy woman to whom the second Mrs de Winter was a companion at the start of the novel. And as such, it also contains as a counter-weight, the sort of heroes and heroines we might also associate with a previous century, "They suffered because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth.
It is very uneven and exaggerated, with the viewpoint character being completely tongue-tied with him, and increasingly cowed and made neurotic by her perception of her predecessor. She could talk to his legal advisor Frank Crawley, or his sister Beatrice, about Rebecca, with no such qualms.
But not with her husband, "He did not belong to me at all, he belonged to Rebecca. He still thought about Rebecca. He would never love me because of Rebecca. She was in the house still Rebecca was still mistress of Manderley. Rebecca was still Mrs de Winter. I had no business here at all Rebecca would never grow old. Rebecca would always be the same. And her I could not fight. She was too strong for me. Sometimes the threat is such as this, a sense of Rebecca; sometimes Mrs Danvers.
Other times it is Manderley itself. And sometimes the sensations are blended, so that Manderley and Mrs Danvers almost become one. At other times, the narrator has moments of happiness, such as this time, shortly before a fancy dress ball, full of optimism at the exciting forthcoming event.
She describes Manderley thus, "the drawing-room, formal and cold to my consideration when we were alone, was a blaze of colour The old austerity had gone. Manderley had come alive in a fashion I would not have believed possible.
It was not the still quiet Manderley I knew. There was a certain significance about it now that had not been before. A reckless air, rather triumphant, rather pleasing.
It was as if the house remembered other days, long long ago. A fog was rolling up from the sea and I could not see the woods beyond the bank. It was very hot, very oppressive The sun had gone in now beyond a wall of mist. It was as though a blight had fallen upon Manderley taking the sky away and the light of day The dark trees loomed thin and indistinct The mist in the trees had turned to moisture and dripped upon my bare head like a thin rain. The clammy oppression of the day The overwhelming aura of, "Rebecca with her beauty, her charm, her breeding," permeates the entire book.
Yet Rebecca never appears. Not once. It is unique of its kind. Not only because of that, but also because "Rebecca" is ostensibly the heroine of the book; its title character. She makes her presence felt solely through the narrator - who had never even met her. It is a book which can be read on many levels, and is open to different interpretations, as many great works are.
Take the opening sentence, whose hypnotic rhythm I referred to at the start of this review. Have you noticed the structure? It is an iambic hexameter there are 6 lengths - 6 "di-dahs" which along with the iambic pentameter 5 lengths is often used in English poetry and plays. Was this deliberate? Was it subliminal? For a moment I wondered if the author's own name, "Daphne Du Maurier" becomes an iambic hexameter if you double it up. To echo that would perfectly demonstrate to me how much of herself she puts into her novels.
But in fact it becomes a dactylic tetrameter the dactylic poetic foot being one stressed followed by two unstressed ie "dum-di-di". Nevertheless, to use such a structure shows her feelings and deep love for poetic language. The are myriads of details which can be analysed and seen as portents. Take the instance of Beatrice's wedding present to the new bride - a set of books.
They fall, due to the viewpoint character's clumsiness, thus breaking a small cupid ornament - which itself was a wedding present to the first Mrs de Winter. Here the symbolism is overt. The are two "paths" which the narrator can take - both figuratively and literally.
One is called "Happy Valley" , the other That tangle of shrubs there should be cut down to bring light to the path. It was dark much too dark. That naked eucalyptus tree stifled by branches looked like the white bleached limb of a skeleton, and there was a black earthy stream running beneath it, choked with the muddied rains of years, trickling silently to the beach below.
The birds did not sing here as they did in the valley. It was quiet in a different way. In other parts of the novel she will use extremely short sentences - not even complete sentences in some cases - to heighten the mood and add a jerkiness and breathlessness to a dramatic situation.
There is a very marked instance of this about two thirds the way through the novel after a big "reveal". It is a highly charged emotional episode, and after this the characters behave in a slightly different way, both towards each other and to everyone else, because of their experience.
In certain descriptive passages Du Maurier's language is extremely poetic. The feeling that Manderley is a character rather than just a building, garden and estate was touched on earlier in this review. Manderley is overwhelmingly an organic presence. Much use is made of the pathetic fallacy throughout the novel. Nature is always described as taking on the attributes and feelings of the person experiencing it. Is this deliberate too?
Or merely a reflection of what the author felt - her passionate reaction to her beloved Nature in all its apparent moods; Cornwall's unpredictable sea, the cliffs, the gardens and the house.
This quote is typical of the overall feeling of threat and tension in this novel, "The weather had not broken yet.
It was still hot, oppressive. The air was full of thunder and there was rain behind the white dull sky, but it did not fall. I could feel it, and smell it, pent up there, behind the clouds. Yet it could be argued that she was still to write her best works. I personally feel she has honed her skills to an even greater and subtler level with that one. Here is a link to my review of it.
However, whatever you judge to be the case as regards literary worth, this is a compelling book which once read is never forgotten.
Daphne Du Maurier has invested a great deal of herself in this novel - her personality, her own obsessions and her experiences. It is an excellent read on any level, with tension, high drama, intrigue and tragedy. There are a couple of very ingenious twists. And the characters and places have cunningly filtered their way into the public's consciousness as those in all great works do. View all 85 comments. Well, hello there. It's officially been two months since I actually finished a book, and it's been longer than that since I reviewed one.
I almost forgot what it feels like to come to the last page of a book, read it, exhale slowly, and put the book down gently with that small spark of accomplishment raging deep inside you.
Plus, the whole post-book sandwich thing that I've mentioned somewhere before and, again, may not be a real thing. So, Rebecca It took me a month to read it because I Well, hello there. It took me a month to read it because I started it in the midst of my yearly book slump. I put it down for a while, not because it sucked, but because books in general were just not doing it for me at that time in my life.
I think this is a safe place to share that. Maybe you read all the time, nonstop, couldn't think of ever slowing down. That's awesome. I, on the other hand, set goals I can't accomplish and find myself too easily distracted by other stuff sometimes.
Anyway, for all of y'all out there in a similar situation where you're Netflixin' and chillin' or playing video games or enjoying the summer outside somewhere, and you come back to books like "Damn, I don't feel like reading and nothing even sounds good because right now I have some very specific needs of what I want a book to do to me and nothing is going to fit into these ridiculous categories I've outlined for myself plus I don't even really have time right now and the new season of Game of Thrones is starting soon Start reading Rebecca.
Let it intoxicate you like too many sips of a local IPA. From the very beginning, the writing is amazing. It never lets up either. Every scene, every character, every event Sometimes you'll find yourself caught up in the suspense, and then a long paragraph describing the room interrupts, but it's just so sexy and feels so important that you don't even care.
You don't even feel interrupted. It all feels necessary. I took my time with the book early on, but gee whiz man I didn't drop the book much during the second half. I don't want to talk about the plot really, but the book did go places I wasn't expecting in a great way. There's a slow, suspenseful build that hangs in the air, and by the end you have to keep moving quickly as things unravel because it doesn't let up until the last page.
I learned recently that Hitchcock directed the movie which makes perfect sense. If you like Hitchcock, you should enjoy this one. If you like good, well-written, slow-burning mysteries, this is for you. If you are a human with eyes functioning well enough to take in the words written in these pages, this is for you. Highly recommended. Kicked me right out of my slump and reminded me books are awesome. And, I get to enjoy a fantastic sandwich today!
Happy Independence Day, America!! Check it out. View all 29 comments. Shelves: , , classics , mysteries-thrillers-horror , national-book-award , Du Maurier Daphne. AmazingBuy 4. Summary of the Book A young naive lady in her early 20s befriends a rich Englishman called Maximilian de Winter.
Frequently Bought Together. The Woman in White. The Color Purple. Add 3 Items to Cart. Rate Product. Thank you. I remember reading it as a 9th grader.
It has stuck with me through college. I wanted to order it to relive the story in all its glory. The book had a reasonable discount on it, is thick and is not the abridged version I read several years ago.
It looks new and was packaged tidily. Looking forward to reading it. Flipkart Customer Certified Buyer , Sibsagar. Rebecca is as beautiful as it is sinister. One cant help relating oneself to the heroine but then ultimately, its Rebecca, with her mysterious charm that leaves this massive effect on us.
This book is 'un-put -downable' and will leave you gasping and wondering in the end. Personally, I try not to judge a book by its review but then this book is something that deserves maximum ratings. What are you thinking guys? Just go for it!!!!!!! Its worth every penny you spend. I bought this book long ago and I still remember everything about the book. This is one of those books you read and it will linger inside your mind. The book is really wonderful - a perfect psychological thriller.
I actually 'hear' my heartbeat while reading the last few chapters. One thing which I found so different about this book is that the name of the narrator or protagonist is never revealed. Anywhere in this book.
She is always referred to as 'Mrs. Story Anoop KR Certified Buyer. Rebecca is a must read.
0コメント