“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again”… After approaching Rebecca when I was younger, my memories of it seemed almost like a distant dream, so I decided to revisit Daphne Du Maurier’s bestselling novel after many years. Just like the protagonist and narrator, I was instantly transported back to the imposing and psychologically haunting estate of Manderly, with its winding roads, dark woods and grotesque rhododendrons. I felt the grasp of Du Maurier’s gothic take hold and I knew I would be unable to put her novel down for the second time. 

 

The narrator tells of her travels as the companion of Mrs Van Hopper and the reader discovers whilst holidaying in Monte Carlo, the narrator meets Maxim De Winter, a wealthy Englishman and widower. Whilst Mrs Van Hopper is recovering from illness, Mr De Winter courts the young narrator and after two weeks proposes a rushedmarriage.                        

 

Returning to his estate of Manderly, as Mrs De Winter, the narrator soon realises it is not going to be the marriage she dreamed of. Haunted by the memory of the former Mrs De Winter, who drowned whilst sailing, we experience first-hand the madness that begins to engulf her. Wherever she turns, whatever she uses, whoever she sees, most notably the chilling housekeeper Mrs Danvers, reminds the new Mrs De Winter that Rebecca haunts the Manderly halls still.

Will Rebecca’s reign over Manderly and all those who live there continue? An unexpected shipwreck threatens the already fraught household of Manderly and the secret that Mr De Winter has kept hidden for so long…

 A gripping read that kept me up into the late hours!  Daphne Du Maurier’s combination of the Gothic and psychological realism captured my imagination and emotions and I myself became haunted by Rebecca and the power she had as a character in the book.  Just like Bertha in the attic, readers have been and will be haunted by Rebecca for years to come and I encourage you to be one of them!