Book Report: Rebecca, by Daphne de Maurier

Daphne de Maurier

So I had always heard about Rebecca and I saw the movie when I was 12ish, and my Grandma had a copy at her house that was hardback and had a silver engraved picture of Manderley on the cover. Manderley is the name of the home in the book and the book begins with the great line "Last Night I dreamt I went to Manderley again".   As the book unfolds about the relationship between a landed gentry widower (Max de Winter) and his much younger new wife (Mrs. de Winter), we learn more and more about the sinister nature of the home, its staff and the pain of being the new wife under the shadow of the deceased more amazing more glamorous wife.

Throughout the book, the new Mrs. De Winter struggles to become her own individual at the vast estate of Manderley.  Her husband is different, the staff makes her feel ungainly and inexperienced.  The housekeeper makes a point of publicly acknowledging her mistakes, and so it seems it will go into the end of their lives until a shipwreck on the beach at Manderley exposes new evidence in the death of the first wife.

The lower social position of the new Mrs. de Winter as compared to her husband, her youth and inexperience in living on a large English country estate have caused many to compare this book to Jane Eyre.  However, I would say it is the checker version of Jane Eyre.  The story is not quite so complicated, the language is not quite so elaborate, and really Jane Eyre is less film noire.  Rebecca is perfect for the Alfred Hitchcock movie that it became.

Overall, this book was gripping and took me only three days to read.  Also, I can tell you no other information about the book, lest I spoil it.  It is SO SO good.