This is my ancient old battered copy which I have been rereading over the last month. This book took me ages to finish. I just haven't been able to read a lot lately. It's the longest drought I've had in years. (Ever ) I blame it all on my addiction to ' an instant information vortex ' on my phone. I have new, strict rules with my phone now so things are slowly improving .
This book was bloody brilliant but so vivid and unsettling, so whenever I closed the book it was as if Manderley and the characters were still clearly living in my head. JESUS! MRS. DANVERS! Probably the creepiest, most mental and crazed character in literature! What a woman!! Just the presence of her skull like face in a window of a room was enough to send my heart racing!
Everything about this house is so well described and it's all so damn ominous and creepy. The second Mrs De Winter really got on my nerves this time of reading. What a wimp. But she is so totally in love with her husband and so jealous of his dead, first wife, Rebecca that her feelings just swamp her. Dead, beautiful, charming, thin, wonderful Rebecca is the main character of this book. She breathes her way through every page of this book and has everyone under her control, even from the grave. I have to say, this time of reading it I had far more time for Rebecca and it was her husband, Mr de Winter, who had more of my anger, along with the demented behaviour of Danvers!
The repression and undercurrents of jealousy are brilliantly described and some nights I just had to stop reading this book because it was just getting too much. I was just screaming at wimpy, unnamed narrator to get a bloody back bone. But this is easy for me to say because good grief I would have wet my pants in the presence of Mrs. Danvers. I haven't read this book since I was 18. Lots of it I remembered but not the ending in Mr Baker's house, which was a bloody brilliant twist. The ending was great and very classy, like a wonderful looped movie which made me want to instantly start reading the book again. Rebecca having the last laugh again. I love how Daphne de Maurier has written this book as a study of human jealousy. She was a total genius of a writer and I'm in awe of her perception. Who was the bad person in this book? Who was right? How quickly can happiness turn poisonous?
To be honest part of me really enjoyed reading this book slowly because I could really savour every single bit of imagery, every fear and repressed emotion. Yes, this book is a masterpiece but not an easy read at all. It's deeply unsettling and even flowers, architecture and the weather take on deeply significant roles in the claustrophobic atmosphere of Manderley.
I think modern authors, such as Sarah Waters, might have written this book from different perspectives too and part of me would have liked to have seen Rebecca's, Danver's or Favell's viewpoints on the events but they are not there. Al we can do is draw our own conclusions.
An absolutely brilliant book!
PS This book is sold on this cover as a Love Story. This is totally wrong in my opinion. I think it is far more about jealousy, control and power. But hey, maybe those words wouldn't have helped sell the book!
