"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." The famous first line of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1938, and still in print and considered a classic psychological thriller.
Rebecca is the story of a young woman, our heroine (who remains nameless throughout the entire novel), who works as a companion to Mrs. Van Hopper, an overbearing, gossiping wealthy woman who, along with her companion, travels from hotel to hotel to keep herself amused.
One evening at dinner, Mrs. Van Hopper approaches Maxim de Winter, another guest at the hotel and the wealthy widower and owner of a fabulous estate with an immense home named "Manderley". After he joins Mrs. Danvers and her companion for dinner, he befriends our heroine and they quickly form a romantic attachment.
She leaves her employment, marries Maxim, and returns with him to live in Manderley.
Manderley is a beautiful mansion surrounded by acres of gardens perched along the sea coast. But as beautiful a home it is, it is a gloomy gothic haunted place, with the ghost of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, seemingly around every corner.
Our heroine, much younger than her new husband, is at a loss as to how to manage this giant estate, and is incredibly shy, so she leaves the management up to Mrs. Danvers, the somewhat sinister but ultra efficient housekeeper who was absolutely devoted to Rebecca.
Throughout the novel, the secrets of the life and sudden death of Rebecca by drowning and her love of Maxim torments our heroine but after a fabulous gala at Manderley, the truth of her secrets finally come to light and the possibility of descending into the darkness that haunts Manderley escalates.
No comments:
Post a Comment