Last Night I Dreamt I went to Manderley Again…
With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten–a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house’s current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim’s first wife–the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.
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This was actually a re-read for me, but it was so long ago it might as well have been the first time I read it. I read it in High School and remember getting caught up in the intrigue of the story, but I’d forgotten all the details.
When I returned the book to the library, the librarian said, “Oh, I read this years ago. I should re-read it because I don’t remember much besides that I liked it.” I told her she definitely should re-read it because I had just done exactly that and it was worth it.
This reads a little slower than many thrillers written today, but I think the slower burn works well to really build the intrigue and suspense. Du Maurier’s writing is wonderfully immersive and paints a detailed picture of Manderley and its occupants. I particularly liked all the descriptions of the gardens and the atmosphere felt like a place you’d want to visit despite the undercurrent of dread building beneath everything.
I do wish I remembered a bit more about what teenage me thought about the unnamed narrator. I have a feeling that 41-year-old me was much more critical of her then teenage me. I know the narrator was thrown into circumstances she’d had no preparations for at a young age and had an abrupt life change, but it was frustrating to watch her never stand up for herself against Mrs. Danvers’ cruelty and her new husband Maxim’s coldness. And after she learns Maxim’s big terrible secret, her first reaction isn’t one of horror, but to rejoice that he really must love her. But she does begin to find her bearings once she and Maxim finally get on the same page and act as a unit, for better or worse.
The final chapters of the book were impossible to put down, and one of the twists really surprised me. Maybe I’ll forget everything again and come back to enjoy Rebecca anew in another 20 years.
After reading the novel, I watched the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock movie with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, and it is excellent. It was an extremely faithful adaptation, with one pretty big exception. I almost like the change a little better, but it makes the story lose some of its moral ambiguity that the novel possesses.
Rachel F. Jean 