Booklover Book Reviews

Rebecca Synopsis

Working as a lady’s companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life begins to look very bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding Mrs Danvers …

Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Du Maurier’s Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity. (Book Depository)

My Review

I listened to Daphne Du Maurier’s classic Rebecca in audio and was mesmerised from the haunting opening sentence…

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again … It seemed to me I stood by the iron gates leading to the drive and for a while I could not enter, the way was barred to me.

Du Maurier’s enduring classic has a wonderful sense of grandness about it. Whether it be the historical locations or the mysterious circumstances the protagonist finds herself in, all seem to take on a life of their own. This novel exudes a sense of power and foreboding – a feeling of menacing indestructability. Is her enemy amongst the living or the dead?

I tried to forget that she was in the house at this moment, perhaps looking down on me from one of the windows. And now and again when I looked up from my book or glanced across the garden, I had the feeling I was not alone.

Narrator Anna Massey delivers this story with such poise – her British accent pitch perfect and her skillful differentiation between characters a pleasure to listen to (listen to an audio sample). For a story told for the most part in reflection, Massey does very well to convey Du Maurier’s intended suspense through the entire 14+ hours without missing a beat. This is one of those instances where I believe the narrator has taken the written word to another level through their delivery, or in this case performance.

Du Maurier’s prose is exquisite in it’s artfulness and the feelings and emotions it evokes in Rebecca.

I particularly enjoyed the protagonists musings on life that solidified her character for the reader.

Happiness is not a possession to be prized. It is a quality of thought, a state of mind.

In some cases artistic prose can get in the way of the telling of the story but in this case it only enhanced the impact of some superior plot twists so cleverly woven into the tale. It comes as no surprise to me that Du Maurier’s Rebecca was listed in The Top 15 Mystery Novels of All Time by Mystery Guild America.

I highly recommend this novel by Du Maurier, particularly in audio – my only regret is not having read/listened to it sooner.

BOOK RATING: The Story 5 / 5 ;  The Writing  5 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Rebecca (Audible); Rebecca (Book Depository)