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I loved reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Definitely five out of five stars. It’s one of those books that sticks with you long after you put it down and doesn’t feel dated. From the very first line I was drawn into Manderley and the way the past seems alive there. The presence of Rebecca is everywhere, even though she’s dead. You feel her in every room, in every memory, and in how everyone around her remembers her. At first, I too fell in love with Rebecca or the memory of who she was.
The narrator, the second Mrs de Winter, starts out so shy and insecure of herself that she doesn’t even have a name in the book. She feels small and invisible compared to Rebecca, and I think that’s what makes her so relatable on a psychological level. She spends so much time comparing herself to Rebecca that she loses sight of who she is. That insecurity, that constant worry that she’s not enough, made me think about how social expectations and ideas about what makes a woman “worthy” can shape someone’s identity. She is surrounded by people who either idolize Rebecca or remind her of how different she is, and that makes her internal struggle feel real. We travel with her as she struggles to form an independent identity as the story unfolds.
Maxim de Winter is a deeply conflicted character. At first he seems like this mysterious, brooding romantic hero, but as the story goes on he reveals complicated emotions and a heavy burden from his past. The way he withholds the truth about Rebecca creates tension and distance between him and the narrator. His silence holds power, and it isn’t until he shares his secret that the narrator begins to finally see him and herself more clearly. Mrs Danvers is one of the most chilling characters I have ever read. Her loyalty to Rebecca and her cruel treatment of the narrator turn Manderley into a psychological battlefield. She makes the narrator feel like she doesn’t belong and like she can never live up to Rebecca’s memory.
Rebecca herself is fascinating because she is never actually alive in the story except in memory and description. She becomes this mythic figure that everyone clings to, and through those memories we see how reputations and stories can control people even after someone is gone. The way Rebecca is talked about makes you question whether the idea of a person can be more powerful than the real person ever was.
The ending of the novel left me thinking long after I finished it. Not spoil the ending, but ending revelation makes the moral center of the story complicated. They lose Manderley in the end, and watching the estate burn feels like a kind of punishment or consequence for everything that happened. It isn’t legal justice, but it feels like emotional and symbolic justice, and it leaves the future of Maxim and the narrator uncertain.
I also love Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film version of Rebecca. The movie is haunting and suspenseful in its own way, but because of the Hollywood censorship rules at the time Hitchcock had to change how Rebecca dies. That change softens some of the psychological weight of the story, but the film still keeps the eerie atmosphere and mystery of Manderley. The way Mrs Danvers is shown in the movie, with her cold stare and obsession, is unforgettable.
Reading Rebecca felt like watching a psychological case study unfold inside a Gothic mansion. The narrator’s transformation from someone insecure and unsure to someone who begins to find her own voice felt powerful. The novel’s exploration of memory, identity, love, jealousy, and power made it so much more than just a haunting love story for me. It blended suspense with deep insight into how people are shaped by their past and by the people around them. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that dig into the mind as much as they do into mystery and atmosphere.
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- East of Eden (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) Paperback [John Steinbeck]PaperbackEUR 7.88 shippingGet it as soon as Wednesday, May 6
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Customers say
Customers find this book captivating until the very end, praising its brilliant writing and suspenseful plot with a surprising ending. The novel features a wonderful contrast between the two female protagonists and becomes full of twists and surprises throughout. Customers consider it a classic of literature. While some find it an easy read, others describe it as frustrating to read.
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835 customers mention content, 746 positive, 89 negative
Great book. So many layers and emotions. I actually want to reread this book to see what little gems I may have missed!...Read more
Though this is an old classic, it is still a great read. I thought it was well written. It had a surprise ending. The characters were defined....Read more
Enjoyable. A good read in the key of "what happened here?". Not necessarily a mystery but a question I was intrigued to find the answer to....Read more
...Rebecca is a GOOD book. A superb dark mystery, a shining example of what a good gothic can be, and again, a good old fashioned excellent read....Read more
353 customers mention story, 293 positive, 60 negative
Great story - was certainly a page turner. Well written and it kept me guessing until the very end. I wish I could forget what happened and re-read!Read more
...To be honest: it's a good story, well told. But gee, it's showing its age. The writing style is stilted, and the characters are cardboard cut-outs....Read more
...to leave a review in case this helps anyone else: this is a wonderful story and well worth reading, but the Kindle formatting is atrocious....Read more
...I thought it was well written. It had a surprise ending. The characters were defined. It was pertinent to present day dysfunction....Read more
274 customers mention writing quality, 251 positive, 23 negative
Great story - was certainly a page turner. Well written and it kept me guessing until the very end. I wish I could forget what happened and re-read!Read more
...Also, beautifully written, with lovely descriptions and language. A wealthy nobleman falls in love with a girls of no means, but with pure heart....Read more
...book why so many people Love it...Rebecca is a great story and very well written ..I love these kind of stories..so glad I finally read the book......Read more
...is what I strive to do as a fiction writer: sense of place, beautiful prose, believable and well-developed characters, and haunting suspense....Read more
206 customers mention engaging, 180 positive, 26 negative
...So happy I did! Rebecca is a tale full of mystery and suspense. I thought the book was going to go one way and it went a different way!...Read more
...is everything a novel should be: intriguing, a bit mysterious, suspenseful, somewhat romantic and written to flow smoothly with pleasing prose, good...Read more
...her dreams and descriptions of her surroundings clear concise and intriguing....Read more
So what is the name of the main character? I liked the characters, intrigue, and plot, but the way it all came together left me a bit unsatisfied.Read more
165 customers mention classic, 156 positive, 9 negative
This truly is a classic!!! I will say it is a great mystery, without giving too much away!! I love the book and the movie was very true to the book!!Read more
A timeless classic. I found it as interesting and captivating today as I did when I first read this book many years ago.Read more
A classic! If you've it before, read it again. If you have, what are you waiting for?Read more
great classic not to be dimished over time, so enjoyed rereading it, very glad to have the opportunity to do soRead more
137 customers mention character development, 100 positive, 37 negative
...Written like a Victorian romance, the character development and imagery is delightful. I was sure how the story would end ... but I was very wrong!...Read more
...Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights in that they all have excellent character development, language full of imagery, and they all contain a story that...Read more
Very thin story line. Little character development. Predictable plot.Read more
...I am mind blown by the plot, the characters and the writing. No wonder this book has yet to go out of print.Read more
125 customers mention mystery, 118 positive, 7 negative
I have always found this story interesting. It has mystery, romance, and many unfriendly people. But the story character of Maxim is well written....Read more
...the book itself, yes, it's a classic for many reasons- atmospheric, mysterious, with a hint of evil. What a powerful and evil person Rebecca is!...Read more
...“feel” your way through this book...fear, anger, love, intrigue, twists and turns...loved every minute of it..will re read EMEMRead more
...This 1938 gothic novel is full of mystery, twists, and turns. I rather enjoyed it!...Read more
123 customers mention readability, 60 positive, 63 negative
...Boring, boring, boringRead more
...I enjoyed reading this book. It is an easy read and has a theme of suspense all along. The end comes suddenly and is not very interesting....Read more
...It makes no sense and is difficult to read.Read more
...the discussion, I came to appreciate it more and thankfully it was a quick read....Read more
You can fight the living but you can't fight the dead
This book leaped to the top of my "favorite of all times' list. Lavish, dark, and macabre; the story dives into the basic fear of a newlywed bride. A masterful psychological thriller. Despite being written in 1937, the story still holds. And as such watch out for social norms; those of class and especially of female roles in society. Feminism was present, but not in a good way, nevertheless, I didn't care! I LOVED the book in all forms including audio, which I tend to loath! but listening to the version read by the spectacular Anna Massey I converted. Her reading voice was mind-blowing. She coincidentally played the sinister Mrs. Danvers in Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation.Yes, this book was the first adapted into a film in 1940…and then horribly remade in 2020. Why? Let's not talk about this latest film adaptation, I have so many thoughts... So many many. I came to this book knowing nothing and stayed because it was just fricking breathtaking. Note to self: get the hardback! I highlighted so much beautiful prose on my kindle that I might have well highlighted the whole book. Ridiculous! I must have a physical copy to stroke every now and again. Gothic at its best, and heavily influenced by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, written over a hundred years before in 1847!
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Top reviews from other countries
- liz stapletonReviewed in Australia on January 19, 2021
A case where the movie is better than the novel
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Lenore Di KaatReviewed in Mexico on July 5, 2023
La novela en que se basó Netflix.
- SarikoReviewed in Japan on January 9, 2026
It’s never too late to read a good classic. I can recommend this anytime.
