Classic / Thriller/Suspense

Rebecca

Author: Daphne Du Maurier

Average Rating: 4.5 / 5

Trigger Warnings:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again… “

Working as a lady’s companion in Monte Carlo may sound like a dream come true, but the orphaned heroine of our tale is trapped under the thumb of an odious woman. When her ladyship takes ill, the young lady is finally free to experience a small taste of life.  She is soon swept off her feet by the handsome widower Maxim de Winter, who is in France to escape the tragic death of his first wife.  When their time together comes to an abrupt end, and Maxim shockingly proposes, she is caught up in the romance and the chance to change her future.  After a perfect honeymoon in Europe, the newlyweds return to Maxim’s picturesque, seaside estate: Manderly. It doesn’t take long for the young Mrs. de Winter to realize that her new home is not as peaceful as she imagined. Maxim’s first wife casts a haunting shadow over Manderly.  Who was Rebecca? Can her memory be exorcised from the estate and its inhabitants? Or is the second wife doomed to live under Rebecca’s lingering presence?

Corinna: 4/5

I am not usually a lover of classics, but there is a reason Rebecca has never been out of print since 1938! The title character is tragically dead, and yet she is the center of the whole story. We see the plot unfold from the perspective of the newly married, second Mrs. de Winter. We receive such an intimate view of her mind, through her day-dreaming and imagination, and yet we never get the intimate detail of her name. Instead, the name of the first Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, haunts her at every turn. Again I find myself saying how much power a name can have. There is a definite slow burn throughout the book that reveals just enough to keep you engaged. The cast of characters are interesting and unique, from the deranged housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, to the lovable estate agent, Frank Crawley. Du Maurier painted these beautiful, big scenes of Manderly and the surrounding countryside, but the descriptions were a bit long and I found myself starting to skim over them. The big twist was so unexpected and well crafted! The fact that I never saw it coming made it even better! But the story ended abruptly, I wanted to know more of what their life was like after. After doing some sleuthing, I found that in 1993 another author by the name of Susan Hill wrote a novel called Mrs. de Winter, doing just that. While it may not be written by Daphne Du Maurier, maybe it will help satiate my want for more!

Lydia : 5/5

I am and have always been very skeptical of reading classics. I find them hard to read and not very entertaining, with essentially very little payoff – however that is not at all what this book was. I was pleasantly surprised to find that everything I thought I knew about classics was wrong. Rebecca was written beautifully with immaculate details and a well thought out storyline. I can honestly say I didn’t expect any of the twists or turns and that I was able to connect with and love the characters. 

There were times where I felt transported back in time thanks to the deep descriptions of Manderley and it made it that much easier to read. This book starts slow though, just a warning to you all! Once you get past the first 10%, you will not be able to put this one down.

Megan: 4/5

Going into the novel, I only knew what I saw from the Netflix trailer, the feeling of being on edge. That feeling of suspense is true to the book, and never goes away.

I wasn’t expecting the ending. Du Maurier heavily implies certain aspects, only for the reader to discover that not everything is as it appears. I’m not sure how I feel about the suddenness of the ending, especially since the book started out at “present day” and then went backwards to how the narrator met her husband. I can imagine what would have happened during that time between the end and beginning, but it would’ve been interesting to read.

When I was about 50 or so pages in, I had a moment of panic; I didn’t remember the narrator’s name?! It wasn’t until a discussion with a friend that I realized that this was intentional by the author. It definitely speaks to the timidness of the second wife and it confirms that she would give up everything for her husband (who’s at least 20 years her senior), including her identity.

My copy of the book had an afterward (written by Sally Beauman) that went into detail about the author’s life and how that would’ve had an impact on the story. It definitely seemed that the two wives were depictions of the two conflicting sides of Du Maurier. It’s easy to see why this book is still in print 80+ years after its original publication. It’s well written and deals with themes that are still relevant in today’s society.  

Sharaya : 5/5

I have been looking forward to reading this for quite some time now, so I was very excited to finally get into this classic. I’m so glad that it was chosen to be one of our book club selections this year, because this is definitely a book that needs to be discussed! There was so much to dig into.  

The cast of characters was a rich tapestry of both lovable and loathsome people.  The attention to detail was impressive, and I was never quite sure of what was going to happen.  There were several very satisfying plot twists, and even when I knew a plot twist was coming, I was usually off-base as to what the twist would be. 

I thought it was absolutely brilliant of Du Maurier to leave her heroine unnamed, further building the mystique and presence of Rebecca, whose name you could not escape. And the slow burn of building tension was expertly executed in my opinion.  I will say that there were a lot of descriptions included, which, while they thoroughly set the scenes, could be tiresome for some people to get through. Also, the main character has a strong imagination and her daydreams are written out in full, which tripped up a few people in our book club as they weren’t sure what was real or not. I actually quite liked that insight into our main character, and thought that it made it easy to relate to her and her hopes and dreams.  My one big complaint is that the book ends very abruptly, and I would’ve liked just a bit more closure. 

To access a printable list of 10 book club questions, please click here.