Carole´s Thursday: Rebecca

 

Author: Daphne du Maurier

Title: Rebecca

Genre: Classic, Fiction, Gothic, Romance, & thriller

Format: Paperback

Pages: 441

Published: August 1, 1938

Where I Got It: Borrowed from my friend

Summary: 

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

Working as a paid companion to a bitter elderly lady, the timid heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life is bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. Whisked from Monte Carlo to Manderley, Maxim's isolated Cornish estate, the friendless young bride begins to realise she barely knows her husband at all. And in every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca.

Rebecca is the haunting story of a woman consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.

Review:

Never heard of this book until it was selected for our book club. I decided to jump right in without reading the summary. I wanted to be completely surprised. 

We follow our timid heroine who was a paid companion to an elderly lady. Life is bleak until she meets Maxim de Winter and they fall in love. They get married and he whisks her to his isolated Cornish estate called Manderley. Once there our heroine will realize she barely knows her husband at all and every corner of every room is haunted by the first wife, Rebecca. 

The beginning was slow and slightly confusing. We start where the story ends. Which was unique for sure, but I was all "Okaaaayyyy". Once we got into the past and started our story I was hooked. 

It is a classic novel and we all know writers back then were bored so things take forever. The convos are long. I still enjoyed it though. I do wish our heroine had a name, but that was commonplace too back in the day. 

This is a hard review to write because I do not want to spoil anything. There are a lot of twists and turns and one shocking moment at the end. Ooooo damn you Rebecca. 

Once I got to the ending the whole beginning made all the sense. I actually re-read the beginning because I couldn't remember anything. 

All-in-all, I enjoyed this. The beginning was a hair rough since it was technically the ending, but once you get through the story it all makes sense. It is a little slow, but it worked to build up the tension for the ending few chapters. I'll give this 4 stars.