Throughout my experience with this book, I ran the gamut from loathing to loving. My experience with the story had been that from the wonderful 1940's film version of the book. As a side note, the movie is a Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece (winner of the 1941 Oscar for best picture). I highly recommend it. I don't recall a time where I have enjoyed the book AND the movie so much. They form a veritable power couple.
Plot summary
The Protagonist and narrator is one Ms. DeWinter. We never learn her real name. She is young, naïve and occasionally selfish. While working for a wealthy older woman, she meets a recently widowed and older man in Maxim DeWinter. She soons finds herself as a young bride and is whisked away to Maxim's English mansion named Manderley. Ms. DeWinter soon finds herself at odds with the peculiar housekeeper and finds herself haunted by the memory of Rebecca, the first Ms. DeWinter. The story takes several unexpected turn as Mrs. DeWinter takes her trip of self discovery.
My Take
At nearly 75% I was feeling rather frustrated and felt the book was a 3 star read. The found the protagonist to be childish, whiney, shortsighted and all around annoying. After the 3/4 mark, all I can really say is WOW! The author was so skillful in creating a character and tainting the readers perceptions with the shortcomings of the protagonist that I felt shocked, even though I knew what was going to happen! In my humble opinion and with my rather limited knowledge, I believe that this may the best character I have ever read. The precision and skill in the crafting left me astounded by the end.
What the movie did not convey (or at least as far as I can remember) is that this is really a love story. While I knew had a clue from the movie, it was thriller more than a romance. Generally, I flee from romance like an idiot at the running of the bulls. In this case, I found I didn't hate it. Coming from me, that is high praise :) While there was much more than I would normally appreciate, I found it to be necessary to the story.
The author possessed a wonderful gift when it came to crafting setting. The grand home of Manderley was like a living and breathing organism with the deceased Rebecca as it Spirit and the enigmatic Ms. Danvers as its soul. This is really a world-class romantic thriller written in the 1930's. Bouchercon named this the best novel of the 20th century. While I don't think I can honestly speak to whether or not this is true, it certainly has the chops to hold this honor.
This novel was written 43 years before I was even born so I don't think my little review will add much to the wealth of information that is available. From my perspective, any mystery or thriller lover should make sure they read this at some point in their life. Any writer that wants to see expertise in character development should study this novel. It is truly worthy of being a great classic of the 20th century.
Content Advisories
It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.
Scale 1 - Lowest 5 - Highest
Sex - 1.5
Everything is quite chase. The married couple occupy different beds and sex is alluded to only in passing. Even the kissing is safe for church.
Language - 1.5
Minimal adult language. I did not bother to do a count as the language is family friendly.
Violence - 3
Violence and potential for violence permeates the story. There is death and destruction while it is most backstory. There is sense of brooding in the story that at times reminds of Stephen King. That said there is no horror or gore but there is certainly some tension....more
Tim The Enchanter
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