January 2013 Host:  Jennie

(at California Pizza Kitchen)

 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

 

Summary

 

This novel (published in 1938) is a timeless classic, it is a mystery as well as a ghost story and is certainly one of the best one hundred books of all time.  The story begins as the unnamed narrator reminisces about her former home, the grand English Estate called Manderley.  She was young and shy when she married the much older Maxim de Winter and moved in to Manderley.  She became immediately overwhelmed with the responsibilities of running the house as well as the memories of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca, who had drowned years ago. Rebecca was portrayed as beautiful, sophisticated, and very confident, and this served to heighten the narrator’s insecurities in her new home. Also, Rebecca’s friend and (somewhat creepy) maid continues working at Manderley and is herself obsessed with Rebecca.   The characters are compelling and especially the narrator who often confuses what she believes with reality.  Although there is little action in the story, it is spooky and leaves the reader throughout the book with an impending sense of doom, much like the typical horror movie.