Strikes exactly the right note

"I put Manderley first, before anything else. And it does not prosper, that sort of love." So says Maximilian de Winter, the handsome and wealthy master of the house and country estate so named. After the sudden death of his beautiful and accomplished wife, Rebecca, de Winter flees to Monaco. He astonishes both himself and the book's nameless narrator by marrying that narrator just weeks after meeting her. The new Mrs. de Winter is barely out of school, and so poor that she's in Monaco as paid companion to an obnoxious widow. Does Maxim really love her? Or is he simply unable to bear returning alone to his beloved Manderley, with Rebecca no longer there?

The young second wife is out of her depth socially and economically, feeling far more kinship with her husband's staff of servants than with his friends. Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper who came to Manderley when Rebecca was Maxim's bride, realizes that immediately and takes full advantage. Mrs. Danvers adored Rebecca, and hates the woman who now occupies her place at Manderley. Which Rebecca seems never to have left, after all....

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It's beautifully written, with rich detail and a slow, subtle building of menace that's ultimately far more creepy than modern "in-your-face" scare-fests ever manage. I especially like the flaws in Du Maurier's heroes, and the sympathetic qualities of her villians. Not only does that make the characters, all of them, more realistic; it also matches the novel's start-to-finish ambiguity. In a lesser writer's hands that ambiguity might come off as unsatisfying, but Du Maurier manages to strike exactly the right note. Especially - where it matters most - on the final page.

Truly a work of a Literature God...

When the narrator (Name unknown) overwhelmingly accepts Maxim De Winter's unanticipated marriage preposal, she finds herself in a horrible nightmare as the new "Mrs. De Winter" of the enchanting home of Manderley. It is in her new high rank as the head mistress of Manderley that she undergoes the many harships of replacing the notorious, beautiful, and powerful, late wife of Maxim's, Rebecca. Du Maurier beautifully crafts her heroine, touching on each and every painstaking moment she must endure of being the "replacement." The surrealness of Manderley, the timelessness of the characters, and an unforgettable twisting climax, all contribute to this stories ease of capturing every reader's heart. The love I have for this story stretches far beyond this simple summary. Read it; and don't tell me you loved it, because I already know you will.

great gothic

Rebecca is surely the the quintessential Gothic suspense. DuMaurier controls and modulates the atmosphere in scene after scene with wonderful descriptive passages. The characters are simply drawn, but stay true to the tragic story. Suspense and foreboding build steadily, even though the plot holds no surprises for the modern reader.

I am never interested in romance novels, gothic suspense, or mysteries. Nevertheless, I found Rebecca to be a completely satisfying read.

While reading the novel, I felt like I was watching an extended directors' cut of the best Hitchcock movie ever. So I was not surprised to find that he brought Rebecca to the screen and that it was his breakthrough film. He obviously learned a great deal from DuMaurier.