Book Review: Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier

Genre: Classic Romantic Suspense
Date Published: August 1938
Publisher: Doubleday
# Of Pages/Listening Time: 449 pages/14 hours 48 minutes

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

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 - resenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling tale that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.

My Rating:

 ★★★ 1/2

.....For belatedly grabbing my interest.

My Thoughts:

I hated this book when I first started it. It felt too meandering, with multiple redundant phrases, and what felt like ridiculous characters. The narrating character (a young woman who becomes the next Mrs. DeWinter) seemed rather foolish to me, and I didn't like Mr. DeWinter at all.

Things started improving, however, once I got past the first 1/4 of the book. Then I started to get into it more and more. The narrator still seemed a bit foolish, but I began to feel more forgiving with her character. I enjoyed the writing more and more as well. Plus the plot got more and more intriguing.

By the end of the novel I was hanging on to every word. It turned out to be an interesting story after all.

People have labeled this book as a romantic thriller. That seems to fit this book perfectly. Alfred Hitchcock also made a movie based on this book, so you can easily imagine what this story is like.

A some point I plan on reading this book again. I definitely misjudged it when I first read it, so it's seems only fair that I give it a second chance sometime years from now. It seems like it would be worth the effort.