Nearly everyone is familiar with Mrs. Danvers. She's the obsessed housekeeper at Manderley, the de Winter estate on the Cornish coast, and was creepily played by Dame Judith Anderson in the Hitchcock adaptation of this novel. When widower Maxim de Winter returns to Manderley with his young bride (nameless throughout the novel), Mrs. Danvers sets out to destroy her already shaky confidence. The young Mrs. de Winter is surrounded by memories of Maxim's first wife Rebecca - her stationary, her clothing, the memories cherished by everyone, even, apparently, her husband. Rebecca was the perfect wife, the perfect lady, a woman of such charm and taste that everyone still mourns her loss in a boating accident the year before. The new wife could never hope to live up to the memory of Rebecca.
This is, perhaps, the finest gothic novel of the 20th century. Du Maurier is a master of atmosphere, peeling away layer after layer of secrets while interspersing dramatic incidents and menacing situations throughout. It is, when you boil it all down, a novel about the importance of communication and honesty within a marriage. There are several quite twisted personalities here. Maxim is tortured, but not, as his new wife and the readers assume, by regrets about lost love. Mrs. Danvers is the one tortured by lost love for Rebecca, whom she worshipped and revered.
Many of you have probably seen the movie, but the book is so much better and the events leading up to the ending may surprise you. Revisit a vintage novel that will never grow old or boring. It has stood the test of time and will, I think, always be in demand.
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