Rating: 
Summary: "The" Modern Gothic Classic
Review: When the very young, unsophisticated and nameless heroine of Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" happily turns over the ideas that she will "be Mrs. DeWinter" and "will live at Manderley", she hasn't a clue as to how these thoughts, prompted by much older Max DeWinter and his proposal of marriage, will change her life in a far different way than she ever anticipated. Du Maurier's heroine narrates her own story; she is fanciful, as gauche as the prototypical unblossomed teenager who feels everyone is looking at her as she walks down the high school hallway and hears cruel comments whispered at her expense. Imagine our heroine's surprise when handsome urbane widower Max DeWinter spends all his time in Monte Carlo taking her for drives and escorting her to lunch. Think how awed she is when his proposal comes---the dreams she conjurs--the romantic scenarios that bloom in her head with the same wild ferocity as the flowers Maxim tells her grow in profusion around Manderley's grounds. Of course, she accepts and the story changes venue from Monte Carlo to DeWinter's famous estate, Manderley. The narrator's voice becomes more uncertain as she enters Manderley's doors--the house, its servants and the responsibility of actually being mistress of Manderley unnerve and overwhelm her. In particular, the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, emits a frigid aura that our heroine cannot thaw. Over time, we discover that Mrs. Danvers was very much attached to the first Mrs. De Winter, Rebecca. In fact,from the new bride's perspective, Rebecca haunts nearly everyone in the story: herself, Max, Mrs. Danvers, Frank, Beatrice, Favel---no one seems to be able to function fully without her. Du Maurier's technique of sharing the narrator's fantasies and fears regarding how she measures up to the legendary Rebecca, adds a masterful bit of psychological tension to all action in the story and helps flesh out the rather insignificant narrator whom Du Maurier didn't even think to name. (Younger readers may find these meanderings a little annoying at times and will want the action to continue rather than indulge in more daydreams. Reading these thoughts aloud rather than skimming over them will add more frazzle to the character's already taut nerves and deepen Manderley's already dark shadows.) Equally intriguing and enigmatic is the character of Max DeWinter, tortured by his loss, so wanting to move on, and so dysfunctionally frozen and unable to do so. Du Maurier creates an unequalled atmosphere of palpable unease. Whether you've read the story before and already know Manderley's secrets or are reading it for the first time, you are in for a finely nuanced treat that elicits many different interpretations of each of the main characters with each reading. This is undoubtably the best Gothic novel of the 20th century--the sequels, Mrs DeWinter and Rebecca's Tale (by different authors) do not compare, even though they are sanctioned by the Du Maurier Estate. Many critics dismiss Rebecca as one of Du Maurier's escapist romances; it is anything but---there is no romance here---the nameless narrator does not escape from the odd happenings manifesting themselves within Manderley's walls to love, she, as all other Du Maurier heriones finds herself trapped, first as a servant to an obnoxious American, then again as a servant to her husband who ultimately controls her every thought and action. Du Maurier creates the eptiome of the 20th century woman. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: one of the BESTBESTBESTBESTBEST books ever!!!!!!!
Review: * This book shall go down in history. The heart-wrenching lonliness of the narrator is gripping (not to mention real) and the plot is brilliant. The reason that I didn't set it off with five stars is because of a slow beginning. More to the point, also because there was not much romance. Rebecca herself had more romance than the anonymous narrator and Maxim. Though flawed, this book is a must-read.
* By the way, stick with this. It may seem boring at first---but patient readers = the happiest readers of all :o) !!!
Rating:
Summary: Du Maurier set the standard
Review: Younger readers, I fear, are sadly unaware of Daphne Du Maurier's place in the book world. She was quite the significant and prolific author, and set the standard for the "gothic" romance with REBECCA. She was one of the bestselling authors of her time. Remember, this is the woman who also wrote THE BIRDS, another Hitchcock classic, as well as several other works that were made into films, including JAMAICA INN, THE SCAPEGOAT (with Alec Guinness), and DON'T LOOK NOW (with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie). Unfortunately, I only see a handful of her many novels listed here on Amazon.
REBECCA is one of the few, if not the only, of the many gothic romance novels of that era that survived as a "classic". The reason is the unique approach to the tale, the nameless new bride living in the shadow of her husband's first wife. And then there's the twisty ending, a reading moment that you'll never forget.
Not all of her novels are gothic or even romance-- The Scapegoat is a great tale of two men swapping identities, Don't Look Now is a tale of true horror set in Venice, and one of my favorites, The Parasites, is a departure from romance, mystery, or horror, exploring the strange bonds between a trio of siblings. Her books may have SOLD in the 30's & 40's like Danielle Steel's do now, but you won't find that they are the same book over and over with different names!
Du Maurier's work should and must endure -- buy what you can new, scan used book stores and garage sales for the rest of her treasures!
If you find yourself loving her books, then also look for her autobiography, called MYSELF WHEN YOUNG.
Rating:
Summary: Rebecca
Review: We chose this book for our senior project and it has turned out really good so far, we didnt really think the book was going to be this interesting and it keeps you wondering through out the whole thing. It's told by a nameless Mrs. De Winter who is living in the shadow of her husband's dead wife. She starts to uncover a mystery surrouding the wifes death and learns the truth about the former Mrs. De Winter. Be prepared for a surprise ending, it keeps you wondering. This is a MUST READ!!
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Summary: Review for Rebecca
Review: We chose this book for our senior project in Senior English. We really didn't really have many high expectations for this book though I have seen the movie. We thought it would be interesting to read, and in fact we were proven wrong with out accusations. In fact, we found that the book was indeed really good and could hardly put it down. We would recommend this book to anyone who loves to read romance and suspense. It does have a rather surprising ending, one that would not have guessed. This is a MUST READ!
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Summary: Rebecca Review
Review: Rebecca is an interesting book about a young girl who is pulled form her comfort zone as a companion into the world of the rich and famous. She marries a man named Maxim, who's wife drowned a year before. He can be very ill-tempered but she loves him. She moves to Manderly, an exquisite house just outside of London. She loves it, but she feel that she is in the shadow of Rebecca, Maxim's first wife. None of the servants like her either. A boat wrecks in Manderly's bay and while they are checking for leaks they come across Rebecca's boat. There is a body inside! There is then an inquest into how she died. If it was murder, who did it? Was it suicide? Who knows! Read the book and find out, it's worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly dreary.
Review: "Rebecca" was not at all what I expected it to be and I was disappointed. I expected more of a mystery, more of a mind bending plot, not endless pages of nothing happening. The "mystery" did not surface until about 75 pages to the end. The ending deeply confused me and left the story hanging. Perhaps the "sequels," which were released more than 50 years after "Rebecca" was published, will make things clearer. I do not recommend.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book.
Review: I thought that the book Rebecca was an excellent book. Not only did it have suspense but many unexpected turns. The book kept you so involved and I never wanted to put it down. Rebecca was written very nicely although it had some pages that weren't necessary.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite novel of all time.
Review: I had to read this book as required reading in high school. I didn't think it would interest me, but happily, it did!! Everything about it was fascinating, from the characters to Manderley to Ms. DuMaurier's graceful (if somewhat rambling)prose. Naturally, I read the sequel MRS. de WINTER immediately after it was published. I am in the process of reading the third book in the series, REBECCA'S TALE. REBECCA is narrated my the nameless Mrs. de Winter. A traveling companion and servant to a snobbish socialite, Mrs. de Winter is swept off her feet by Maxim de Winter, a wealthy and sophisticated widower, while on vacation in Monte Carlo with her employer. After a whirlwind courtship and quick, quiet wedding, Maxim whisks her away to Manderley, his ancestral home on the Cornish coast in England. She's not there long before she realizes that her predecessor, the ineffably beautiful and accomplished Rebecca, is everywhere yet nowhere, dead yet still alive, gone yet not forgotten. And no one underscores these sentiments more strongly than Mrs. Danvers, Manderley's housekeeper who had been Rebecca's loyal serving woman. Constantly haunted by Rebecca's memory and forced to do battle with Maxim's odd mood swings, Mrs. de Winter fights to hold her own in her new milieu. The turning point in the story comes with the discovery of Rebecca's sunken sailboat at the bottom of the bay, and with it horrifying new revelations that she may not have drowned but had been murdered instead. A series of suspenseful events follows that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the de Winters fight for their love and their lives, and the story concludes with a shocking ending. The movie, made in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock, is also excellent and stays pretty true to the novel.
Rating:
Summary: A timeless mystery meets unrequited love
Review: Great for all ages! Once you fall in love with the book...see the movie.
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