06878cam a2200325 4500 606422828 TxAuBib 20200506120000.0 930302s1993||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 93000808 9780385471978 lg. print $25.00 0385471971 lg. print $25.00 9780385043809 $20.00 0385043805 $20.00 (OCoLC)495990579 DLC DLC OCoLC DLC ICrlF TxAuBib du Maurier, Daphne, 1907-1989. Rebecca / Daphne du Maurier. New York : Doubleday, 1993. 357 p. ; 22 cm. Classic. 5 stars to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. I loved it and probably consider it 4 1/2 stars just because of a few small items (but I can't not give it 5 here!). Story The second wife of a wealthy widower (you'll never know her name) tries to figure out how to fit into her new family when it seems there's now way how. With many twists and turns, both suspense and a bit of romance, this story captures your attention immediately and takes you on a path of great intrigue. Just when you think you've figured it out, du Maurier confounds and surprises you -- in a good way. I would love to be a fly on the wall in Manderley (name of the estate where the book takes place) to catch all the hidden expressions and conversations. Strengths 1. Mystery and Intrigue 2. Character Development Weaknesses 1. Some unanswered questions (small ones). 2. I want more. Final Thoughts Read it. Experience it. Don't just watch the movie adaption. You want to make up your own mind about what everyone looks like and acts like. here was almost a Broadway show made based on this book; I was super-excited, but funding failed. Oh well, maybe in the future. For months after her death, the memory of Rebecca de Winter continues to dominate everyone at her former home, Manderley, one of the most famous English country houses. While working as the companion to a rich American woman on holiday in Monte Carlo, the unnamed narrator, a naïve young woman in her early 20s, becomes acquainted with a wealthy Englishman, George Fortescue Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter, a 42-year-old widower. After a fortnight of courtship, she agrees to marry him and, after the wedding and honeymoon, accompanies him to his mansion in Cornwall, the beautiful estate Manderley. Mrs Danvers, the sinister housekeeper, was profoundly devoted to the first Mrs de Winter, Rebecca, who died in a boating accident about a year before Maxim and the second Mrs de Winter met. She continually attempts to undermine the new Mrs de Winter psychologically, subtly suggesting to her that she will never attain the beauty, urbanity, and charm her predecessor possessed. Whenever the new Mrs de Winter attempts to make changes at Manderley, Mrs Danvers describes how Rebecca ran it when she was alive. Each time Mrs Danvers does this, she implies that the new Mrs de Winter lacks the experience and knowledge necessary for running an important estate. Cowed by Mrs Danvers' imposing manner, and the other members of West Country society's unwavering reverence for Rebecca, the new mistress becomes isolated. She is soon convinced that Maxim regrets his impetuous decision to marry her and is still deeply in love with the seemingly perfect Rebecca. The climax occurs at Manderley's annual costume ball. Mrs Danvers manipulates the protagonist into wearing a replica of the dress shown in a portrait of one of the former inhabitants of the house—hiding the fact that the same costume was worn by Rebecca to much acclaim shortly before her death. The narrator has a drummer announce her entrance using the name of the lady in the portrait: Caroline de Winter. When the narrator shows Maxim the dress, he gets very angry at her and orders her to change. Shortly after the ball, Mrs Danvers reveals her contempt for the second Mrs de Winter, believing she is trying to replace Rebecca, and reveals her deep, unhealthy obsession with the dead woman. Mrs Danvers tries to get Mrs de Winter to commit suicide by encouraging her to jump out of the window. However, she is thwarted at the last moment by the disturbance occasioned by a nearby shipwreck. A diver investigating the condition of the wrecked ship's hull also discovers the remains of Rebecca's sailing boat, with her decomposed body still on board. This discovery causes Maxim to confess the truth to the second Mrs de Winter. He tells her how his marriage to Rebecca was nothing but a sham: how from the very first days husband and wife loathed each other. Rebecca, Maxim reveals, was a cruel and selfish woman who manipulated everyone around her into believing her to be the perfect wife and a paragon of virtue. She repeatedly taunted Maxim with sordid tales of her numerous love affairs. The night of her death, she told Maxim that she was pregnant with another man's child, which she would raise under the pretense that it was Maxim's and he would be powerless to stop her. In a rage, he had shot her through the heart, then disposed of her body by placing it in her boat and sinking it at sea. The second Mrs de Winter thinks little of Maxim's murder confession, but instead is relieved to hear that Maxim has always loved her and never Rebecca. Rebecca's boat is raised and it is discovered that it was deliberately sunk. An inquest brings a verdict of suicide. However, Rebecca's first cousin, and lover, Jack Favell, attempts to blackmail Maxim, claiming to have proof that Rebecca could not have intended suicide based on a note she sent to him the night she died. It is revealed that Rebecca had had an appointment with a Doctor Baker in London shortly before her death, presumably to confirm her pregnancy. When the doctor is found, he reveals that Rebecca had been suffering from cancer and would have died within a few months. Furthermore, due to the malformation of her uterus, she could never have been pregnant. Maxim assumes that Rebecca, knowing that she was going to die, manipulated him into killing her quickly. Mrs Danvers had said after the inquiry that Rebecca feared nothing except dying a lingering death. Maxim feels a great sense of foreboding, and insists on driving through the night to return to Manderley. However, before he comes in sight of the house, it is clear from a glow on the horizon and wind-borne ashes that it is ablaze. The novel is remembered especially[1] for the character Mrs. Danvers, the fictional estate Manderley, and its opening line: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." The second Mrs de Winter. Adult. 20110915. Cornwall (England : County) Fiction. Romantic suspense novels. TXNAV