“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...
Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Her future looks bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Max de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding housekeeper, Mrs Danvers...
Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.”
There is something so immediately captivating in Du Maurier’s prose. It is charmingly descriptive. From the initial, iconic, opening line, it is easy to imagine the haunting building of Manderley, a property that was once glorious, but now withered away, almost forgotten, but still clinging on in the narrator’s dreams. This dejected building, once the scene of opulent parties, but now with dark secrets hidden behind its crumbling walls, forms a major character in Du Maurier’s novel Rebecca.
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me…
No smoke came from the chimney, and the little lattice windows gaped forlorn…
…it was only when I bent my head to avoid the low swinging branch of a tree that I realised what had happened. Nature had come into her own again and, little by little, in her stealthy, insidious way had encroached upon the drive with long, tenacious fingers. The woods, always a menace even in the past, had triumphed…”
When I read these opening lines they gave me goosebumps, I was immediately transported to a place that raised many questions; and thus the inquisitive mind wanted to read more. Even though I hadn’t left my sofa, I felt like I was out walking and had stumbled across a dilapidated building that wanted to let me in on its secrets. Immediately there is this sense of wonder. Why has the place been left for nature to take over? Why does the narrator dream of this place? What happened here? Transfixed by these images I read on, to find myself in a sunny Monte Carlo where the atmosphere couldn’t be more different!
Daphne du Maurier wrote the Gothic novel Rebecca in 1938. It is the tale of an unnamed narrator, a young woman, who impulsively marries a wealthy widower she meets whilst in Monte Carlo. The woman, who is in her early twenties, is working as the companion of a wealthy American lady. When the lady takes ill, the narrator has some time on her hands, and whilst dining alone, she makes the acquaintance of Maxim de Winter. After a fortnight, she agrees to marry the 42-year-old, and following the wedding, she returns with him to his Cornish mansion, Manderley.
The narrator quickly discovers that the place is haunted by the memory of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca. Mrs Danvers, a name which sends a shiver down your spine even if you haven’t read the book, is the sinister housekeeper who was infatuated by her first mistress. She gaslights the new Mrs de Winter, telling her she could never be as beautiful as Rebecca or exude her elegant sophistication. She informs the narrator how the late Mrs de Winter ran the estate, and how her requests don’t meet the standards set by her predecessor.
The narrator starts to have doubts about her marriage, and these feelings are increased when she is coaxed into holding a costume ball at Manderley, a custom that Rebecca was fondly remembered for. Mrs Danvers suggests that the narrator wear a replica of a dress from one of the portraits that hang within the house. Not knowing that Rebecca had worn the same dress just before she died in a sailing accident, the narrator agrees. The sight of the dress sends Maxim into a rage and he orders his new wife to get changed immediately. Not knowing what she has done wrong, the narrator quickly feels further isolated and questions whether Maxim regrets marrying her. How could she ever match the perfect standards set by Rebecca?
This is an intricately weaved tale which also relies on several well thought out minor characters. Whilst the main four characters, Rebecca, Maxim, Mrs Danvers and the narrator (although we could argue that Manderley is an important fifth) give weight to the story, the use of these secondary characters allows us to understand our nameless narrator. It is significant that we never know the name of the young woman. She finds herself in the shadow of Rebecca’s greatness and therefore is not allowed to make a name for herself. At first, we believe her to be a naïve young woman, unsure of herself and at the mercy of Mrs Danvers, but her interactions with Frank Crawley and Beatrice Lacy allow her to understand where her capabilities lie. She begins to exude a confidence in her ability to run Manderley, and her sister-in-law shines a light on the true nature of Rebecca.
“If you think I'm one of the people who try to be funny at breakfast you're wrong,” he said. “I'm invariably ill-tempered in the early morning. I repeat to you, the choice is open to you. Either you go to America with Mrs. Van Hopper or you come home to Manderley with me.”
“Do you mean you want a secretary or something?”
“No, I'm asking you to marry me, you little fool.”
There have been numerous adaptations of Rebecca for TV, film and radio, but the majority of these have obviously chopped and changed bits, including the dramatic ending. It is therefore a revelation reading the book and understanding what the author was trying to achieve. Whilst Rebecca is a "marvellously gothic tale" it is also the exploration of the relationship of a powerful man, and his not so powerful wife. A marriage which one must question…what on earth was so beguiling about Maximilian de Winter? On the surface he seemed to be the epitome of the perfect English gentleman, but underneath you find a shallow, misogynistic man with the ability to compel anyone to obey his commands. I mean, his marriage proposal was less than romantic, yet she still accepted it!
Whilst this book may not be an action-packed thriller, it is beautifully written, and the slow pace of the novel allows you to see both Maxim and the narrator’s personalities change, one losing confidence, and one gaining some. It also has one of the most atmospheric settings since Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Manderley is not just a country mansion, its imposing atmosphere offers a place for the hero to hide, the heroine to feel imprisoned, and its dark walls harbour the owner’s deepest, darkest secrets. This is a classic novel which doesn’t disappoint.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Gothic, Romance, Classics, Historical Fiction
Release Date: 15th August 2003
Publisher: Virago Modern Classics
Pages: 428
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