Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier on December 17th 2013
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Gothic, Classics
Pages: 393
Format: eBook, Kindle Book
Source: Amazon Kindle
"Rebecca is a work of immense intelligence and wit, elegantly written, thematically solid, suspenseful.." —Washington Post"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . ."The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.
Rebecca is definitely my best read this year. Rebecca is a classic masterpiece, a very captivating romantic suspense loaded with secrecy while keeping a very attractive romantic touch. It takes hold of you right from the start till the last word .. a real page turner. The narration is so real that you feel like you are actually walking through the rooms and corridors of Manderley. You feel the breeze in the gardens and you can smell every flower, tree or even the sea.
Rebecca is the story of a young girl (with no name as you will find out that we don’t know the name of the heroine through the story). Growing up as an orphan and working as a lady’s maid, she feels her dreams finally come true when she meets Maxim in Monte Carlo. Maxim is a rich attractive bachelor who is almost 15 years older than her. She gets married to Maxim and goes with him to his fabulous estate, Manderely. However, she doesn’t feel she belongs there. She keeps comparing herself to Rebecca, Maxim’s late wife who died so young. She’s afraid Maxim might be still in love with Rebecca. However, things are not as they seem. There’s a very dark secret. Revealing this secret will change their lives completely.
The characters are so well crafted that you can touch them, listen to them and hear their deepest fears and agonies. You feel the deepest twists in the human nature. No one is a complete villain or even a true angel. While you might hate the actions of some characters, you never hate the characters themselves. In fact you sympathies with them as you feel there sufferings. You can’t blame them as you can’t decide whether they are villains or victims.
And above all .. you can’t but love Maxim .. a very attractive character in his own way. Last but not least, having a nameless narrator heroine served the secrecy shadows through the novel quite well. After all, the human nature is always the same through ages and centuries. . same desires, hopes, fears and agonies.. It’s only the context that differs ..
Note: The book was first published in 1938.
About Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier was born in 1906 and educated at home and in Paris. She began writing in 1928, and many of her bestselling novels were set in Cornwall, where she lived for most of her life. She was made a DBE in 1969 and died in 1989.