Rebecca by Dauphne Du Maurier

Overall Rating- 3
Cleanliness Rating- 1

This tale of fear, suspicion, and love opens as the unnamed narrator reminisces about her former home, the grand English estate, Manderley. She had been young and shy, a lady's companion, when she met the wealthy recent widow, Maxim de Winter, fell in love with him, and married him in a matter of weeks. They return to his great home, Manderly, which she loves, but it can not hide her from Rebecca's (Maxim's first wife) overwhelming presence. To her it seems Maxim is always thinking about Rebecca, whom everyone loved, who died in a boating accident just a year before. She feels herself being constantly compared to Rebecca; this is not what Rebecca would have done, Rebecca must have done it like this, Rebecca was taller, Rebecca was a social butterfly, Rebecca was very beautiful, Rebecca Rebecca Rebecca. She is 'nothing like Rebecca.' Her new husband was strangely distant to her, until a horrible secret was revealed that would change their lives and the very existence of Manderley.

What follows is a love story and a ghost story of a woman haunted by the powerful presence of the former mistress of Manderley. We never learn the name of the heroine as she marries Maxim, moves into the rigid but elegant life at Manderley and tangles with Mrs. Danvers, Manderley's sinister housekeeper. What unfolds is not only a mystery but a story of obsessions and evil. The end is a shock.

Daphne Du Maurier has created a wonderfully spooky story with remarkably little action. The first half is a bit slow, but it picks up in the second half. Rebecca is never seen, and yet she is the main character, dominating the story with her passions and cruelty. Another main "character" is the great house itself, which is described in such captivating detail that you almost feel you are there in person. The narrator is purposely kept anonymous to contrast her with the larger-than-life Rebecca, and Maxim is a seriously flawed but lovable man. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a little slower paced than I’m used to, but it was a good read.