general

This book was recommended to me several times before I broke down and read it. I am a lover of classic films, yet this is one that I had never seen, for some unknown reason. A good friend suggested that I read the book to truly enjoy the story to its fullest. And boy, was she right.

Although not my usual genre of choice, this is a true classic. The main character, the 'second Mrs. Dewinter' is a simple girl, swept up in a romance with a rich widower while she is on vacation as companion to a pushy, well to do woman. She leaves her employer to marry Max DeWinter, not anticipating all this union entails for her.

She is drawn into the shadow of Rebecca, the first Mrs. DeWinter, and fights to measure up, and to retain her sanity in Max and Rebecca's home, Manderley.

Not helping matters at all is Mrs. Danvers, a maid of sorts, who was utterly devoted to Rebecca, and bitterly resents the appearance of this plain, uneducated, unrefined girl trying desperately to fill the void left in the house when Rebecca died suddenly, under mysterious circumstances.

The second Mrs. DeWinter, never referred to by name, finds herself fighting to find her own place at Manderley, and in Max's heart, as well as seeking the approval of Mrs. Danvers and the other household servants, and Rebecca's friends and relatives, as she slowly comes to the realization that not all was as it seemed with Max and Rebecca, and the grounds of Manderley are the burial place of many secrets, perhaps better left undisturbed.

This is a wonderful story, full of colorful and engaging characters, and one of the best of the more 'modern' classics in 1900's literature.

I had to read this book as required reading in high school. I didn't think it would interest me, but happily, it did!! Everything about it was fascinating, from the characters to Manderley to Ms. DuMaurier's graceful (if somewhat rambling)prose. Naturally, I read the sequel MRS. de WINTER immediately after it was published. I am in the process of reading the third book in the series, REBECCA'S TALE.

REBECCA is narrated my the nameless Mrs. de Winter. A traveling companion and servant to a snobbish socialite, Mrs. de Winter is swept off her feet by Maxim de Winter, a wealthy and sophisticated widower, while on vacation in Monte Carlo with her employer. After a whirlwind courtship and quick, quiet wedding, Maxim whisks her away to Manderley, his ancestral home on the Cornish coast in England. She's not there long before she realizes that her predecessor, the ineffably beautiful and accomplished Rebecca, is everywhere yet nowhere, dead yet still alive, gone yet not forgotten. And no one underscores these sentiments more strongly than Mrs. Danvers, Manderley's housekeeper who had been Rebecca's loyal serving woman. Constantly haunted by Rebecca's memory and forced to do battle with Maxim's odd mood swings, Mrs. de Winter fights to hold her own in her new milieu. The turning point in the story comes with the discovery of Rebecca's sunken sailboat at the bottom of the bay, and with it horrifying new revelations that she may not have drowned but had been murdered instead. A series of suspenseful events follows that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the de Winters fight for their love and their lives, and the story concludes with a shocking ending.

The movie, made in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock, is also excellent and stays pretty true to the novel.

This wonderful book bored me quite a bit of the way through, but maybe that is because I am a high-school student, and I had to read it. Without pressure, most books are much more pleasing. However, looking back, thinking about it, I love this book. Du Maurier is a talented author. She has created a grand environment, the immense Manderley. She has also made great and intriguing characters: the young, timid narrator, quite often the only one who is left not knowing what is going on (she is never referred to by her first name); the rich, enigmatic Maxim De Winter, the narrator's husband; the loyal servants, including the ever-active Frith and the bumbling Robert; the unforgettable Mrs. Danvers, always seeming to lurk in the shadows, always looking upon Mrs. De Winter with a keen eye of expectancy and detest; the tactless Beatrice; Maxim's agent, Frank Crawley; and of course, the dead, ever-present, haunting Rebecca. The narrator comes to Manderley, completely new to this lifestyle, and forever falls in the shadow of Rebecca. She learns of Rebecca's fate, having drowned in the sea after her boat capsized. She learns everything about the ways of Manderley, and tries to follow these unwritten laws. Then, a ship crashes somewhere near Manderley, and a diver is sent to survey the damage. When he comes up, he reports the discovery of Rebecca's ship! He also reports a body found in the cabin. Could there have been another passenger onboard? Did Rebecca even drown at all? Could she have been murdered? I won't spoil the big surprises, suffice to say this is where the plot twists and you begin to see the shades of gray. And of course, the last surprise, which is even foreshadowed on page 3 or 4, is given on the last page for the final eye-opener.