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A review by konandcompany
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5.0
i’ve never read a book that’s made me nostalgic for a place i’ve never been like manderley. it’s described in such rich detail that almost evokes longing; it’s as effective as looking at a photograph of its gothic beauty and those lush gardens, the impossible rhododendrons and white azaleas. it’s a character in and of itself with its own atmosphere, complexities, and hidden depths.
this is a book I’d rate as in the class of wuthering heights; it’s dark and deeply unpleasant in some parts where women are put in conflict with one another, where insecurities are made stark and ugly. there’s appeal in the ugliness though. there’s poetry in fighting against a ghost, the futility of it, but what the protagonist is really fighting against is her own imagined inadequacies. she, in her mind, mythologizes rebecca and gives a ghost life and breath.
the mystery and the unraveling of rebecca’s death is satisfying in a way that mysteries rarely are. the slow unveiling is all I could have wanted, but I won’t lie; it was a slow start. you're forced to sink into the setting slow and methodically. the book makes you work for the secrets of manderley, but the pay off feels earned in pages.
this is a book I’d rate as in the class of wuthering heights; it’s dark and deeply unpleasant in some parts where women are put in conflict with one another, where insecurities are made stark and ugly. there’s appeal in the ugliness though. there’s poetry in fighting against a ghost, the futility of it, but what the protagonist is really fighting against is her own imagined inadequacies. she, in her mind, mythologizes rebecca and gives a ghost life and breath.
the mystery and the unraveling of rebecca’s death is satisfying in a way that mysteries rarely are. the slow unveiling is all I could have wanted, but I won’t lie; it was a slow start. you're forced to sink into the setting slow and methodically. the book makes you work for the secrets of manderley, but the pay off feels earned in pages.