Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Rebecca

by Daphne Du Maurier

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of REBECCA learns her place. Her future looks bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Max 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 housekeeper, 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, REBECCA is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.

Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

5 of 5 stars

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"Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?"

This line is spoken by Mrs. Danvers and a very good question it is too.

Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier is the gothic novel of an unnamed girl. The story begins with this young girl as a paid companion to a Mrs. Van Hopper. Mrs. Van Hopper likes to hobnob with the rich and famous and after spotting Maxim de Winter, owner of the wonderful Manderly. (I should also mention that Mr. de Winter has recently lost his wife and just can't get over it). So like a tabloid with Miley Cyrus on the cover, she sets her eyes on the prize of befriending him.

Little does she know that a friendship and eventually love spark between he and the unnamed girl, who is soon after taken to Manderly and introduced as Mrs. de Winter. Her reception is rather cool, as the staff has yet to recover from Rebecca de Winter's death as well, especially Mrs. Danvers who runs the show.

The Second Mrs. de Winter has difficulty adjusting to her new role as Mistress of Manderly and being constantly compared to the first Mrs. de Winter does not help her self-esteem. The ever existing presence of Rebecca does not help matters either. After being consistently sabotaged by the Mrs. de Winter's devotee Mrs. Danvers send her into a melodramatic insanity. Then an unfortunate discovery is made at sea changing the course of regularity at the prized estate of Manderly.

This was a eyes glued open pageturner from the first sentence. Rebecca was exceptionally well written and I think no matter how many times it is read, Rebecca will always keep you spellbound. Mrs. Danvers is seriously creepy turning the home into a haunted house and sick memorial to her former mistress but yet somehow you still feel for her in a most disturbing way. Also, I think that the second Mrs. de Winter remaining anonymous added to the mystic of it's fictional surroundings. All around, Rebecca is a fantastic novel perfect for curling up by the fire and reading well into the night.


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  • Started reading
  • 15 July, 2010: Finished reading
  • 15 July, 2010: Reviewed