Publisher: HarperCollins Page Count: 410 Year Published: 2006 (originally published in 1938)
Synopsis: The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady’s maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives–presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
My Thoughts: Rebecca is a classic that I’d seen floating around bookstores for years, but I was never particularly compelled to pick up. However, Netflix recently adapted it with Lily James and so, one rainy summer day during a pandemic lockdown, I decided to watch the movie. I know… I committed a cardinal sin of reading and watched the film without reading the book. The movie made me want to read the book, particularly because many readers on Instagram were saying the movie didn’t capture the creepy essence of the book. I am also participating in Jules’s The Rory Gilmore Book Club, and January’s prompt was ‘a book adapted to film or tv.’ I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to read Rebecca.
I really enjoyed the book and I, too, enjoyed it much more than the movie. The book is gothic and creepy in a way that the movie never really reaches. Manderley is a perfect setting for a psychological mystery. I was mildly annoyed with our never-named heroine who was so self-conscious she never really questions the manipulation of others–she even goes as far as constructing conversations that never happened and realties that don’t exist. Her inability to critically examine her surroundings and the words of others contribute greatly to the issues in the book, so it makes sense she’s malleable and too open to influence.
Mrs. Danvers is a great villain, but it’s also unclear at times whether she’s the true villain. I thought Mrs. Danvers seemed malicious and manipulative, but also had a deep sadness within her and feelings of abandonment. Rebecca haunts the halls of Manderley and our heroine fears Rebecca’s wrath, which many characters allude to as being unparalleled. Rebecca is the perfect foray into psychological thrillers, and is succeeds at building tension that you can feel but don’t know. By this I mean you don’t know where it’s coming from because every character appears unreliable and secretive.
And with that, I can cross off the first prompt of the 2021 Rory Gilmore Book Club Challenge!
I highly recommend!
Read It Like Rory 