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A review by singalana
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Rebecca is an atmospheric story about a young woman who marries a newly widowed man and soon realises that the dead wife's presence is everywhere.
The main character is working as a companion to an insufferable older woman, when he meets Maxim de Winter, a recently widowed, wealthy man. They soon get married and return to his estate, Manderley, where she soon discovers that the former Mrs de Winter might be dead but not forgotten.
The first half of the novel slowly builds atmospheric tension: the great Manderley by the seaside is a gloomy place. The tension rises to a breaking point, where events start to unravel, and the fog starts to lift. The first half of the book felt slow, and the second half felt perilous. And after I had finished, I had to return to read the first few chapters again.
It is an atmospheric book with morally grey characters and an ending that is abrupt (for the lack of a better word). I think you need to be in a certain mood to read this book, and the types of things I previously listed.
Spoilers ahead!
Minor: Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, Dementia, Infertility, and Murder