Beloved by readers worldwide and winner of the prestigious Anthony Award for Best Book of the Century, Rebecca is a timeless novel that captivates readers as early as its infamous first line "Last night I dreamt I was at Manderly". This is followed by a beautifully detailed, yet foreboding description of Manderly, home to the main characters Maxim De Winter and his new young bride, the story's narrator. Manderly comes alive and takes on the role as one of the novel's main character who influences the thoughts, emotions and actions of the other principal characters.
The story begins in Monaco, where the narrator is on vacation with her employer, a self-involved American aristrocrat Mrs Van Hopper. Through Mrs Van Hopper's social climbing proclivity, the narrativor becomes acquainted with the infamous widower Maxim de Winter. Within a surprisingly short amount of time, Mr. de Winter proposes to the narrator whose youthful love and desire to begin a new life influences her acceptance.
After a romantic honeymoon in Italy, the couple arrive at the legendary Manderly. Although the narrator romantasized Manderly for a long time--as a child she treasured her picture postcard of Manderly--she soon realizes everything is not as it seems. The house and its sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, keeps the memory of Mr de Winter's first wife, Rebecca, alive and creates insecurities in the narrator. Mind games lead her to believe she will never measure up to Rebecca and she begins to doubt Maxim's love for her.
The cause of Rebecca's death remains a mystery for three-fourths of the book. Daphne du Maurier magnficently creates suspense with her use of foreshadowing and her artful placement of clues. Upon discovering Rebecca's murderer, readers also learn of Rebecca's true nature. As Rebecca quickly falls from the narrator's self-created pedastal, the narrator regains her confidence and faith in her marriage.
I immensely enjoyed Rebecca. The rich details, character evolutions and building suspense made it one of my all-time favorite novels. While the narrator's name is never revealed, her hopes, insecurites and evolving maturity is opaque throughout the novel, making me feel like her confidante as I knew her better than most main characters. The novel can not be slotted into one genre- it has elements of a mystery, romance and psychological drama. Of couse, the European setting is an added bonus.
We recently saw the "Masterpiece Theatre" production of Rebecca. Although I enjoyed it, as I do most well-made Masterpiece Theatre productions, I was disappointed with the important deviation from the novel. It failed to capture the second Mrs de Winter's insecurities regarding her husband's love since he was characterized as a doting husband throughout the novel. This diminished the production's buiding suspense and pschychological tension. As in many cases, the novel was better than the theatrical version. However, in all fairness, it would be a difficult feat for even the most superior production company to capture the power of this timeless, masterpiece novel.
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