Retrospective Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

I read Rebecca when I was 15 and gave in to my sisters' suggestion that I should broaden my range of books I read by choosing books from a recommended reading list my English teachers had handed out at the beginning of the academic year. The books I did read were the ones my sisters had on their shelves, including this one - I had no idea it had one of the most well-known opening lines of a novel. And it was a brilliant one to start with!

I remember being mesmerised by the first chapter, it was so eloquently written. I felt like I was reading one long poem and got such a clear idea in my head of what Manderley was like. Though, as a teen who was more accustomed to reading fantasy fiction, after those opening chapters, I found myself reading it very slowly; if I remember correctly, it took me about 6 weeks to finish because I picked up other books between chapters. I found myself being bored by the cold and emotionless marriage the narrator threw herself into, the beginning scenes in Monte Carlo lacked any warmth you'd expect from a courtship that quickly leads to marriage. It always frustrated me.

What kept me going and picking it up to at least read 10 pages in one sitting was the mystery around keeping the second Mrs de Winter nameless, the obsession the cruel Mrs Danvers has with keeping Rebecca's memory uncomfortably alive, and the way the latter had an impact on everyone the protagonist meets through her marriage. With every new responsibility Mrs de Winter took on and experienced through her marriage, the more Rebecca's lingering presence was felt as the former was constantly being compared to the latter. You begin to wonder how a woman who has been dead so long and left nothing of herself behind could have such a lasting impact. Let's not forget the manipulative suggestion Mrs Danvers makes for the annual costume ball.

Various plot details are scattered here and there throughout the book, details that only incite more questions than before. I found myself more interested when it seemed that these threads were beginning to tie themselves together - it's what happens in any well-written thriller. I zoomed through the last 100 or so pages, finally finding myself absorbed in what the story was trying to tell me. The ending was quite satisfying as I thought it lifted the weight of Rebecca's life from the de Winters and allowed them to move on and enjoy their marriage without the shadow of a dead wife and obsessed housekeeper.

Despite my disinterest in the middle of the book, thinking about the book retrospectively and in its entirety, it is a brilliant and captivating book well worth reading.

Reasons to Recommend:

• A must-read of modern classics that are beautifully written
• Feeling the strong presence and impact of a character you never meet
• Despicable characters that aren't meant to be liked
• The real-world magic of Manderley
• A book with a lot of plot threads in it to carefully unknot and tie together

I rate the book 9/10, and only because of the fact that my 15-year-old fantasy-loving brain struggled to enjoy reading it beyond the first couple of chapters until things picked up in the climax. I don't often reread books but I might pick this one up again someday to see how my adult brain enjoys it.