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A review by veraveruchka
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5.0
This book has been sitting in my TBR shelf for a while. Thank you, Lisa, for choosing this book for me, I'm really glad I read it earlier than what I planned.
'Rebecca' told the story of the young second Mrs. De Winter after she met Maximillian De Winter, an enigmatic widower who had recently lost his first wife. After a quite surprising marriage proposal and brief honeymoon, the couple return to Maxim's renowned house, Manderley. Unfortunately that didn't mean happiness and bliss for the young bride, as she was haunted by the shadow of her beautiful and perfect-in-any-way predecessor, Rebecca, and also the unfriendliness of Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper.
From that first line, I was hooked. It was so exquisitely written. The plot keeps you at the edge of your seat, excited and also dreaded for what will come next. It's not exactly a ghost story but it feels bleak and dreary, it has a gothic feeling about it.
I find the most interesting part of this story is how we never know the heroine's actual first name, although it was stated that her first name is "unusual". That way, somehow I can feel her anxiety more. I walk through the corridors of Manderley with her, seeing the bloody red rhododendron, listening to the waves on the shingle beach. I replace her first name with mine and somehow her story also become mine.
The story is similar with [b:Vera|1294375|Vera|Elizabeth von Arnim|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1182550869s/1294375.jpg|1283481] by Elizabeth von Arnim. They both have a first wife who just recently died a mysterious death, a whirlwind romance, and a young bride who was filled with uncertainty about their marriage life. But they are written in different spirit; Vera is more like dark comedy, witty Von Arnim style, mostly about marriage gone bad. 'Rebecca' is more serious and tragic in some ways.
It is really, really good. Beautiful, mysterious, and haunting...just like the eponymous Rebecca.
Ps. Just googling and I find that 'Rebecca' was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Joan Fontaine as Mrs. De Winter and Sir Laurence Olivier as Maximillian de Winter. I have to watch this...
'Rebecca' told the story of the young second Mrs. De Winter after she met Maximillian De Winter, an enigmatic widower who had recently lost his first wife. After a quite surprising marriage proposal and brief honeymoon, the couple return to Maxim's renowned house, Manderley. Unfortunately that didn't mean happiness and bliss for the young bride, as she was haunted by the shadow of her beautiful and perfect-in-any-way predecessor, Rebecca, and also the unfriendliness of Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper.
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
From that first line, I was hooked. It was so exquisitely written. The plot keeps you at the edge of your seat, excited and also dreaded for what will come next. It's not exactly a ghost story but it feels bleak and dreary, it has a gothic feeling about it.
I find the most interesting part of this story is how we never know the heroine's actual first name, although it was stated that her first name is "unusual". That way, somehow I can feel her anxiety more. I walk through the corridors of Manderley with her, seeing the bloody red rhododendron, listening to the waves on the shingle beach. I replace her first name with mine and somehow her story also become mine.
The story is similar with [b:Vera|1294375|Vera|Elizabeth von Arnim|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1182550869s/1294375.jpg|1283481] by Elizabeth von Arnim. They both have a first wife who just recently died a mysterious death, a whirlwind romance, and a young bride who was filled with uncertainty about their marriage life. But they are written in different spirit; Vera is more like dark comedy, witty Von Arnim style, mostly about marriage gone bad. 'Rebecca' is more serious and tragic in some ways.
It is really, really good. Beautiful, mysterious, and haunting...just like the eponymous Rebecca.
Ps. Just googling and I find that 'Rebecca' was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Joan Fontaine as Mrs. De Winter and Sir Laurence Olivier as Maximillian de Winter. I have to watch this...