Scan barcode
A review by amybibliophile
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5.0
First of all I'd like to say I'm not a huge fan of classics, especially the ones I have finished this year, and I'm finding the only way I can get through them is via audiobook because that way I can listen whilst traveling and don't feel compelled to 'put it down'.
***Please note there may be a few spoilers in this review***
Anyway to the review:
We start the story in Monte Carlo with Mrs Van Hopper, an American gossipy woman, and her paid companion-in-training whom is also the narrator of the novel - although we never actually learn her first name.
She is a very timid, insecure little thing that I take to be in her early 20's - again we never learn for sure what her age is. I automatically felt a sense of sympathy for her, at her nervousness about everything she does and her seeming to just want to please.
Whilst on the trip with Mrs Van Hopper she meets a Mr Maxim de Winter, a much older gentleman whose wife had recently died, and he invites her to dine and be a companion for him during the rest of the stay. At the end of the trip he pounces the question of marriage upon her and she in turn agrees to be his wife and to live with him at Manderly.
Now being the new Mrs de Winter, they arrive at Manderly to live out their lives as husband and wife, only to realize she is stepping into anothers shoes.
Mrs Danvers' character takes this book from good to brilliant. She was the late Mrs de Winters', a.k.a Rebecca, Maid and housekeeper at Manderly. For most of the story she is a very mysterious character and I always had the sneaking suspicion she was up to something. She takes advantage of the new Mrs de Winters apologetic, nervous character and plants seeds in her mind that her marriage with Maxim is worthless and she not being as charming and attractive as Rebecca was.
I feel the scenes between Mrs Danvers and Mrs de Winter were ones prominently us females can relate to at one point or another in our lives - Feeling threatened and not good enough although the words have not been spoken out-loud. To ask ourselves questions with new partners like, "Was this what they used to do?" & "Does he still think of her?". To say I haven't asked myself these questions at some point of a relationship would be a lie. Daphne du Maurier has made that constant nagging doubt so successful, connecting my thoughts and experiences with those of Mrs de Winter, that I got an overwhelming sense of camaraderie towards her.
As the book progresses we see that Mrs Danvers relationship with Rebecca is firmly over the line of obsession. She keeps her rooms like they are still lived in, has possession over her things and takes every opportunity to undermine the narrator and remind her of her inferiority to the late Rebecca, and she is very successful in doing this.
Mrs de Winter begins doubting her marriage with Maxim and constantly gets compared to Rebecca by Maxim's family and friends. She tries to be more like her and do things she would do thinking this is what her husband wanted and the reason he feels so adrift.
Half way through I got the sense that all isn't what it seemed. An earlier encounter with Ben, a slight 'retarded' man who lives on the Manderly estate, and is the only person to describe Rebecca in a negative light after he hints towards a secret he has about her, in which Rebecca had threatened the poor man by saying he would be taken to the asylum should he say a word.
This novel just felt like it flowed so well, the dialogue between Mrs Danvers and Mrs de Winters excited me because I was rooting for MdW to stand up for herself and tell the woman that Rebecca was dead and in charge no longer!
I was quite pleased with the ending and with how Mrs de Winters character had progressed.
I ordered a copy of Susan Hills sequel 'Mrs de Winter' for when I finished this and although the ratings are no where near as good, I cannot wait to start it just to feel once more than I am in the grounds of Manderly.
A wonderful story that kept me on the edge of my seat and hungry for more.
***Please note there may be a few spoilers in this review***
Anyway to the review:
We start the story in Monte Carlo with Mrs Van Hopper, an American gossipy woman, and her paid companion-in-training whom is also the narrator of the novel - although we never actually learn her first name.
She is a very timid, insecure little thing that I take to be in her early 20's - again we never learn for sure what her age is. I automatically felt a sense of sympathy for her, at her nervousness about everything she does and her seeming to just want to please.
Whilst on the trip with Mrs Van Hopper she meets a Mr Maxim de Winter, a much older gentleman whose wife had recently died, and he invites her to dine and be a companion for him during the rest of the stay. At the end of the trip he pounces the question of marriage upon her and she in turn agrees to be his wife and to live with him at Manderly.
Now being the new Mrs de Winter, they arrive at Manderly to live out their lives as husband and wife, only to realize she is stepping into anothers shoes.
Mrs Danvers' character takes this book from good to brilliant. She was the late Mrs de Winters', a.k.a Rebecca, Maid and housekeeper at Manderly. For most of the story she is a very mysterious character and I always had the sneaking suspicion she was up to something. She takes advantage of the new Mrs de Winters apologetic, nervous character and plants seeds in her mind that her marriage with Maxim is worthless and she not being as charming and attractive as Rebecca was.
I feel the scenes between Mrs Danvers and Mrs de Winter were ones prominently us females can relate to at one point or another in our lives - Feeling threatened and not good enough although the words have not been spoken out-loud. To ask ourselves questions with new partners like, "Was this what they used to do?" & "Does he still think of her?". To say I haven't asked myself these questions at some point of a relationship would be a lie. Daphne du Maurier has made that constant nagging doubt so successful, connecting my thoughts and experiences with those of Mrs de Winter, that I got an overwhelming sense of camaraderie towards her.
As the book progresses we see that Mrs Danvers relationship with Rebecca is firmly over the line of obsession. She keeps her rooms like they are still lived in, has possession over her things and takes every opportunity to undermine the narrator and remind her of her inferiority to the late Rebecca, and she is very successful in doing this.
Mrs de Winter begins doubting her marriage with Maxim and constantly gets compared to Rebecca by Maxim's family and friends. She tries to be more like her and do things she would do thinking this is what her husband wanted and the reason he feels so adrift.
Half way through I got the sense that all isn't what it seemed. An earlier encounter with Ben, a slight 'retarded' man who lives on the Manderly estate, and is the only person to describe Rebecca in a negative light after he hints towards a secret he has about her, in which Rebecca had threatened the poor man by saying he would be taken to the asylum should he say a word.
This novel just felt like it flowed so well, the dialogue between Mrs Danvers and Mrs de Winters excited me because I was rooting for MdW to stand up for herself and tell the woman that Rebecca was dead and in charge no longer!
I was quite pleased with the ending and with how Mrs de Winters character had progressed.
I ordered a copy of Susan Hills sequel 'Mrs de Winter' for when I finished this and although the ratings are no where near as good, I cannot wait to start it just to feel once more than I am in the grounds of Manderly.
A wonderful story that kept me on the edge of my seat and hungry for more.