Read for the first time this well-loved novel that I liked well enough.

This is a beautiful story with beautiful descriptions of a manor with a musical sounding name. Manderley. Just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

I admit I did not become fully engrossed until about halfway through. Right along the fancy dress ball did I start not reading fast enough. Before that I was just enjoying the seemingly flawless writing style, but now we were cooking!

I had seen the old Hitchcock film years ago, so unfortunately, the mystery was gone. I kept picturing Laurence Olivier as Maxim while reading - I am not complaining! However, knowing what happened did not make it any less intense. I found myself holding my breath at some points and I stopped to ask myself, "Why?" du Maurier is no doubt a master at suspense! ( )

I read this book for the first time in the late '60's or early '70's when my mother passed her copy to my sister and me. I have read it at least 3 times since. I absolutely love this tale of mystery and angst. I must admit that I sometimes wanted to shake our heroine, but I really would not have her be any other way. ( )

DAPHNE DU MAURIER: Rebecca

Read in 1984 and revisited many times.
An adroit, compelling and haunting romance that touches the heart.

The young and innocent girl who marries Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo to become the second Mrs De Winter is not to be compared to his first wife, Rebecca. Rebecca has been drowned and Maxim proposes to this young woman merely days after they meet in Monte Carlo and brings her home to his estate Manderley.

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again….” the opening line leads to a story of haunting where the second Mrs De Winter, often called “child” by her husband, is dogged by the legacy of the dazzling and accomplished Rebecca, who seems the perfect wife.

The girl, whose first name is never revealed in the novel, fears she is a poor second to Rebecca but a twist in the plot reveals her to be a woman of real value whom Maxim truly loves.

Classic Fiction Novel 1938 ( )

The ultimate gothic tale. Haunting, lyrical, suspenseful. I love the book, the movie, and now Anna Massey's audio reading. ( )

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! ( )

Rebecca is a book where not a lot happens. Everything is unspoken & the most vibrant character is dead. This is a novel of the unspoken, of the conversation you have in your head when you're trying to convince yourself of something. That it was published in 1938 makes it that much more interesting.

I remember the first time I read this. I was a teenager visiting my Mississippi grandmother, sleeping in the back bedroom & staying up all night reading [book:Rebecca|12873] in an omnibus edition with Jamaica Inn. I thought of this time again this summer, hanging out with my son who stayed up all night to finish Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. I remember identifying with the narrator & feeling terrible for Maxim de Winter & terrified of the evil Mrs. Danvers. What an absolute classic of the genre this book is.

As an aspiring adult, the book reads differently. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the narrator needed to assert herself & stop being such a wimp. Easy for me to say now that I'm not a teenager any more.

There is also, of course, the brilliant Hitchcock film of this with Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine - forever coloring the way the book looks in my head.

I'd forgotten how engrossing this novel is, too. I read while I walk to BART & nearly missed the turnoff into the station because I was too spirited away. There is something so tragic & delicate about this book, so modern, so quiet, so measured in its pace, so lovely. ( )

This book reminds me of Jane Eyre, but I didn't love it as much. I found the mystery surrounding the house and Rebecca very interesting, but I was kind of let down by the reveal. ( )

Rebecca is a beautifully told story. Du Maurier's descriptions of the setting, the events, and the fantasies of our narrator are vivid and poignant. The fantasies leap off the page for me. The narrator constructs scenarios in her head continuously, revealing her deep-seated fears and her expectations. She invents future scenes where she is embarrassed, hurt, or ignored. It was an exceptional way to reveal the narrator's personality.

These glimpses into her psyche, however, made me alternate between wanting to scream at, comfort, teach, and scold the narrator. Her self-conscious, self-defeating actions and attitude were painful to watch (er...in my head anyway). As I read the scene where Mrs. Danvers is suggesting a gown for the fancy ball, I was yelling in my head: "Don't take her advice? She's playing with you." I knew it was going to end badly, and for the next pages, as our narrator builds herself up, finally finds some hint of self-confidence, my heart actually hurt at the thought of what was coming. When the inevitable happened and she descended those steps to finally reveal her costume, I was horrified with her, saddened with her, and embarrassed with her. This depth of empathy with the main character is, I think, a real indicator of the talent of du Maurier.

Memorable Scene: Towards the center of the novel, Mrs. de Winter finds herself alone in the late Rebecca's room with Mrs. Danvers. Over the next 7 pages, Mrs. Danvers leads Mrs. de Winter around the room creepily showing Rebecca's beautiful possessions, pointing out Rebecca's wondrous personality, exclaiming upon Rebecca's beauty. This scene where the old, skeletal, vicious maid is telling the new bride how wonderful the dead bride was disturbed me greatly. I could feel the depth of Mrs. Danvers's obsession for her dead mistress, the acute pain of the new Mrs. de Winter as she was bombarded with Rebecca's greatness as a sign of her own faults.

Memorable Quote: I wanted to go on sitting there, not talking, not listening to the others, keeping the moment precious for all time, because we were peaceful all of us, we were content and drowsy...In a little while it would be different, there would come to-morrow, and the next day, and another year. And we would be changed perhaps, never sitting quite like this again. Some of us would go away, or suffer, or die, the future stretched away in front of us, unknown, unseen, not perhaps what we wanted, not what we planned. This moment was safe though, this could not be touched.

It feels I could talk about this story ad infinitum. The depth of the language, the complexity of the plot, the masterful way du Maurier manipulates the subtleties to hide and reveal...but I'll leave it at this: READ THIS BOOK ( )

A good mystery, nice and atmospheric. If you like Rebecca, you'll probably like Wilkie Collins too. And vice versa. It always bothered me that we never do find out the protagonist's name. ( )

I have been complaining lately about not reading as many books as I’d like to and quietly thinking that I have the worst luck with the quality of the books that I do manage to read (more ‘so, so’ ones than the wonderful ones). But then I read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and everything just got better. It is because of books like this one that I love reading because it makes me realize that one has to dig deep, long and hard to find true gems and once they are found to appreciate them better.

Max de Winter, the owner of magnificent Manderley estate, comes to Monte Carlo to recover after the death of his wife, Rebecca. While there, he meets a young girl, barely an adult, who is a mousy little thing working as a maid-in-training for a know-it-all, nosy Mrs. Van Hopper. Suddenly, a strange relationship develops between Max and the girl. They spend together enough time for her to fall in love with Mr. de Winter and his sudden marriage proposal to her ends up to be a shock to everyone around including the girl. She agrees (what else could she do, it’s her dream come true) and after a few months of honeymoon, Max and new Mrs. de Winter arrive at Manderley. From pretty much the first day, Mrs. de Winter realizes that she would never be treated as the rightful wife of Maxim de Winter by the people who live in Manderley because this honor will always belong to mysterious, beautiful and very much dead Rebecca. And so what was supposed to be a dream life turns into a nightmare for the unsophisticated and timid second lady of the estate.

There wasn’t a single thing about Rebecca that I could criticize. Du Maurier had this wonderful ability to pull the reader into the gloomy, mysterious atmosphere of Rebecca right from the start. I didn’t so much read about this new to me world (a thing most readers look for when starting a book) as really experience it. The descriptive passages of nature and Manderley’s surroundings are beautiful and some observations on what may seem mundane, truly extraordinary. Here are excerpts on roses and rhododendrons (flowers that are common, albeit beautiful) that made me see them in a new light.

A rose was one of the few flowers, he said, that looked better picked than growing. A bowl of roses in a drawing-room had a depth of colour and scent they had not possessed in the open. There was something rather blowsy about roses in full bloom, something shallow and raucous, like women with untidy hair. In the house they became mysterious and subtle.(p.33)

We were amongst the rhododendrons. There was something bewildering, even shocking about the suddenness of their discovery. The woods had not prepared me for them. They startled me with their crimson faces, massed one upon the other in incredible profusion, showing no leaf, no twig, nothing but the slaughterous red (underline mine, I just love this phrase), luscious and fantastic, unlike any rhododendron I had seen before. (p.65)

The peculiar thing you’ll notice when reading Rebecca is that the second Mrs. de Winter is never called by her first name. As I turned pages, it became quite obvious why. The way she acts is as if she is never her own person. She is actually quite a sad character. Her innocence and naiveté about love, future life in Manderley and I think, life in general are recipes for disaster as it’s quite easy to have them shattered by the first evil person that comes her way. In this case the girl had a very bad luck of contending with evil Mrs. Danvers and most importantly, with dead Rebecca. Mrs. de Winter’s submissive behavior became quite frustrating to me and I just wanted to go over there and shake her and tell her to wake the heck up and start standing up for herself. She finally had but I can’t go into the reasons (you’ll have to read it to know). The only thing I can say is she didn’t do it because she thought one day, ‘Okay, enough of this bullying, I am not Rebecca but I am a person that deserves respect and will get it!’. No, she did it only after having gotten a validation from another person.

Rebecca is called a classic, Gothic romance and I tell you, just when I thought I got it all figured out, I got smacked with a twist after twist. And the character of Mrs. Danvers has to be one of the most evil in the history of mysteries. I was glad to see her cry after Rebecca. It wasn’t because I am just such an evil person myself that enjoys the emotional suffering of others. It was because up to that point, I started thinking that maybe Mrs. Danvers died with Rebecca and it was her demonic ghost governing the Manderley household. I was relieved to find out she had human feelings.

It is true that it took me a long time to finish Rebecca, but instead of feeling the usual frustration that comes with reading a book for an extended period of time, I am happy I allowed myself the luxury to spend more time in the world of Manderley. It would have been a shame, had I read the whole book in one sitting. ( )

This review is based on a reread of the classic Gothic romance-suspense novel. While the story was every bit as enjoyable and enthralling the second time around, some aspects of the book bothered me a bit more this time than when I first read Rebecca as a teenager.

The characters with whom we're supposed to sympathize - the unnamed narrator and Maxim de Winter -- were not very sympathetic: the girl too mousy and passive, the man's motivations murky and suspect. The bad guys - the sinister Mrs. Danvers, the loutish cousin, and even the specter of the dead first wife, Rebecca - were all much stronger, more vivid and, in a way, more likable characters. Also, the end (which I won't give away here) was very abrupt, and as a result, not very satisfying. I don't mean to over-criticize: This is still a suspenseful, engaging read, just perhaps not as meaty as I remembered it. ( )

The unnamed narrator, a young woman working as a companion to a rich American woman, meets the mysterious widower Max de Winter while in Monte Carlo. Days later, they are married and the new Mrs. de Winter must cope with taking the place of vivacious Rebecca.

I have mixed feelings about this book. As a classic Gothic novel, the descriptions were delightfully evocative, particularly in reference to the de Winter home, Manderley. Though the book read rather slowly, the tension and moody feel kept me reading without feeling bogged down by details. On the other hand, few of the characters were likable, except perhaps Frank Crawley, and I found myself very frustrated with the narrator and her decisions. While I may not read this book again, I would try another book by this author. ( )

The story follows a young woman who, after accepting the much older Maxim de Winter's sudden proposal of marriage merely days after they meet in Monte Carlo, must contend with Maxim's stunningly beautiful late first wife, Rebecca, as she takes her place at her new husband's equally beautiful home Manderley. ( )

I have heard so many good things about this book over the years that I finally had to read it. I know now why so many people love this book. I loved most of it, but the end of the book seemed to stretch out a bit. I knew from the very beginning that "something" would eventually happen, but once things are set into motion near the end the book became just a bit less interesting to me. Certain parts of this book reminded me of Jane Eyre for some reason. I had mixed feelings about Maxim De Winter, but I seemed to connect with Mrs. De Winter from the very beginning. ( )

I have on occasion admitted to bookish friends that I have not read Rebecca, and this admission is usually met with a wide-eyed, open-mouthed look of astonishment. I'm not sure how this book passed me by, either -- I blame my education, which was sorely lacking in the classics. But never mind all that, I have now corrected this egregious oversight. And I enjoyed every word!

Rebecca is a gothic romance mystery that wanders around rather slowly during the first half, and then takes off on a suspenseful ride. A young woman is employed as companion to a much older woman, and when they are on holiday in Monte Carlo they meet Maxim de Winter. Maxim is grieving over the loss of his wife, Rebecca, nearly a year before. He and the young woman strike up a relationship, which rapidly leads to her becoming "the second Mrs. de Winter" (the story is told in the first person and the reader never learns her first name). The second Mrs. de Winter is much younger than Maxim, and very shy. She is uncomfortable asking any questions about Rebecca; even mentioning her name feels taboo. On returning to Manderley, de Winter's Cornwall estate, the second Mrs. de Winter is haunted by Rebecca's presence in the house. The servants still plan menus and maintain the house according to Rebecca's wishes. Maxim is rather distant, and his second wife spends far too much time second-guessing him. She also allows herself to be bullied and tormented by Mrs. Danvers, the head housekeeper, who has found it particularly difficult to accept a new lady in the house.

For the entire first half of this book the second Mrs. de Winter struggles to gain her footing in the household and in her marriage, while steadfastly refusing to take any personal action to help her own situation. That was a bit frustrating; I wanted to shake some sense into her! But then two events -- a ball at Manderley, and a ship moored in the local harbor -- set in motion a series of twists and turns that had me sneaking peeks at this book during every spare moment. Suddenly every character was suspect, and just as I thought conflicts were being resolved, more problems would present themselves. The characters were wonderfully drawn, especially the creepy Mrs. Danvers, so bent on preserving a long-gone status quo, and Rebecca, who never actually appears in the novel but still holds tremendous sway over all. Throw in a red herring or two and you have a classic tale that's not to be missed. ( )

An unnamed young lady tells the story which begins in Monte Carlo where she is working as a paid companion for a wealthy woman on holiday. She is an ordinary, working class young lady; plain, shy, modest, and naïve. Her boss, Mrs. Van Hopper, becomes ill and must spend several days isolated in her room and during that time the narrator finds herself enjoying the company of a handsome, wealthy, sophisticated Englishman, Mr. de Winter. Mr. de Winter is a widower. His first wife Rebecca recently died in a boating accident and he is still in mourning. In fact, his grief is so painful that he can not bear the thought of going home alone to his beloved family estate, Manderley. And after a very short courtship the narrator and Mr. de Winter marry.

From the moment the new Mrs. de Winter arrives at Manderley she is paralyzed with fear and uncertainty. Manderley is a stately mansion, remote, isolated, forbidding, surrounded by dark silent woods, and haunted with the presence of Rebecca. A mansion filled with vast hallways, large cold echoing rooms, long dark corridors, and the entire upstairs west wing closed off (the original master bedroom suite), a shrine to the deceased Mrs. de Winter….Rebecca, the beautiful, cultured, amiable, talented,… well….just perfect Rebecca. As Mr. de Winter immediately resumes his daily routine and busies himself with work, the new Mrs. de Winter feels anxious, ill as ease, and ineffectual. She knows that everyone is comparing her unfavorably to Rebecca, and she will be forever walking in Rebecca’s shadow. It is apparent from the very beginning that something dreadful is going to happen. Daphne du Maurier creates an atmosphere that can give a jaded mystery fan goose bumps. The plot is superb; scary, surprising (although sometimes quite predictable), and entertaining.

And the characters are classic. Comical in-laws, a dedicated reliable estate manager, a rude pompous cousin of Rebecca’s, a mentally challenged beach comber, and of course there is a whole staff of servants, unfriendly, stiff, and haughty. The most memorable character is the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, “someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment white, set on a skeleton’s frame”.

Rebecca is a timeless vintage suspense story. Daphne du Maurier at her best. ( )

I read this last winter when I was sick with the flu. It was perfect. My reading was entwined with memories of the Hitchcock film. It was a great treat. ( )

I was hooked from beginning to the end. ( )

Reread January 2008 ( )

I read this once as a teenager, on my mother's recommendation and enjoyed it, but remembered very little about it. When I saw it on offer I thought the time had come to reacquaint myself with it. I'm glad I did. I knew it was a fairly dark tale, but I'd forgotten just how very sadly it ends. And in fact it shows its colours very early on, since it starts with the narrator telling of her life almost of exile, and only then rewinds to show how it came to be.

It's a book of contrasts, rich with poor, dark with light, beauty and plainness, and passion of one sort or another rears its head over and over again. I always liked the way the narrator is essentially nameless, we know her by her husband's name, which was also the surname of the Rebecca of the title, his previous wife. It's hard to know where the writer would like our sympathies to lie. The young narrator seems in some ways lacking in anything to make us truly love her, although I think I like her best. Max de Winter is a dark brooding character, who turns out to be more than simply an unhappy widower.

Rebecca herself haunts the whole book. The introduction to this edition suggests that the author in fact felt more sympathetic to Rebecca than I can find myself to be. That her situation was brought upon her by the strictures of her time and her husband. That in marrying de Winter she was made to live a life that was unsuited to her, and that in forcing her to bend to his will he was cruel. To me it seems that it was something she chose. She wanted both lives, but she wanted to live them on her own terms, and was not willing to compromise at all. And at the end she chose her own way too,

To the very end the book keeps you in suspense. And throughout it's full of lovely images. I love the writing, and I think not just because lately I've been reading so many children's books. I'd definitely recommend this one. ( )

Daphne du Maurier's classic novel "Rebecca" is, in my opinion, the most touching and thought-provoking of all of her works of fiction, and possibly one of the best books ever written. The story follows a young woman who, after accepting the much older Maxim de Winter's sudden proposal of marriage merely days after they meet in Monte Carlo, must contend with Maxim's stunningly beautiful late first wife, Rebecca, as she takes her place at her new husband's equally beautiful home Manderley. One of her best books I think.