So this is my, what? Thirtieth time reading Rebecca? It NEVER gets old. Oh gosh, Rebecca . Yes, five stars. I would give ten if that were an option, because Rebecca is brilliant. DuMaurier is a fine author anyway, but Rebecca is her magnum opus, her swan song, her...I don't know. Her descriptions are amazing: she uses thousands of words and never wastes one. Every single line adds a shade, a nuance, to that strangely lovely yet dreamlike/creepy atmosphere she weaves, until the non-entity narrator sinks into oblivion and dead Rebecca becomes more vividly alive than any other character. I always marvel, as I finish the book, how clearly I can SEE Rebecca; I know I would recognize her (and her handwriting!) if I ever saw her.

(BTW, my daughter just mentioned to me that she always reads Rebecca when she is coming down from Jane Eyre. I can hardly believe this, but I never noticed the similarities until she said that. But anyway: in terms of sheer literary art, Rebecca is the better book. But I still love Mr. Rochester infinitely more than chilly Max de Winter.) ( )

An enjoyable romance that is filled with mystery and suspense. It will keep you reading and wanting to read into the wee hours of the morning. Full of twists and turns, it was a bit predictable, but had a few surprises along the way. I enjoyed it so much, I passed on the book to my daughter. ( )

Brief Review: An unforgettable read - truly unforgettable. It's wonderfully written, keeps you on the edge constantly, beautiful Gothic setting and plot, and the characters are so mysterious that you can't help but what to know more about them.

Great mystery, suspense, Gothic, horror, and romance literature. If you're interested in any or a combination of those then I would greatly recommend "Rebecca."

The best book ever. The first time I read it, I scared myself silly. This is an absolute must-read with the best characters in English literature. ( )

A fantastic novel. I don't know how I missed reading this one years ago, but I'm glad I picked it up when I did. It was exactly the kind of book I needed this week - well written, engaging, at times dark and mysterious and at others a look at how lost a "silly" young girl can be when out of her element. I'd seen bits and pieces of the BBC version on TV, so while I knew the premise of the story going into this, I didn't know the twist - and it was a good one! And who knew a housekeeper could be so terribly creepy?

Although the narrator was naive, needy, and sometimes not the sharpest tool in the shed, I found myself sympathizing with her. She's thrown into a world she knows nothing about, knowing that she will always be compared to her beloved predecessor. Her main concern seems to be what others will think of her - she constantly imagines the conversations that the household staff or the town gossips will be having about her, and admits freely that it's one of these imagined conversations that push her to go downstairs to the fancy dress party. When she loses this towards the end of the novel, and gains some confidence in her position as mistress of Manderley, I think she lost a little personality as well; even Maxim bemoans the loss of her innocence and youth.

The way du Maurier can set a mood is wonderful, though. It could be supremely creepy, have an underlying sense of danger, or, as it did for the last few chapters, make me a nervous wreck, right along with the narrator. Loved it! ( )