Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Title: Rebecca

Author: Daphne du Maurier

Pages: 410

Finished: January 18, 2017

First Sentence: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.

Summary: A young woman with no prospects marries the recently widowed Maxim de Winter. Upon their arrival to his estate, Manderly, the young bride soon realizes she is constantly shadowed by the memory of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca. Rooms stay decorated as though Rebecca will return; the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, clearly thinks the second Mrs. de Winters isn't worthy of the title or position; and Maxim doesn't like being reminded of his omnipresent first wife. As the narrator tries to fit in at Manderly, details emerge of the previous marriage that could very well ruin everything.

Thoughts: I devoured this novel! For the first time in a long while, I was eager to read again. I found myself going to ed at an earlier hour each night in order to see what wold happen next. From the very first I was intrigued by the narrator whose imagination marked her for a young woman right away. If you're not a fan of thorough introspection, this book might not be for you. It takes a while for her to get to Manderly, and even then, the real exciting stuff doesn't happen until somewhere around page 200. But if you are okay with introspection, be prepared for the ride of your life. 

I also have to write kudos to Dame du Maurier. While I typically don't condone the actions Mr. de Winter in most of this book, through the narrator's eyes, I felt very sympathetic to him. The narrator annoyed me at some points, but when I realized just how young she really was, I was able to forgive her a little bit. Some of this, I'll admit, is difficult to comprehend just because of how different times are now than they were in the 20s. 

Mostly though, I loved every mention of Manderly. What beautiful description.