Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again ...
This is the opening line to Daphne du Maurier's most famous novel Rebecca. I love all of Daphne du Maurier's stories but Rebecca is probably my favourite, I often reread it. I am obviously not alone - there were 2,829,313 copies of Rebecca sold between 1938 and 1965, and the book has never gone out of print (Wikipedia).
For those who have never had the pleasure of reading Rebecca, let me tell you a little about the book and later 1940 film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.
The story is a psychological thriller/drama. A naïve young woman, whose name is never mentioned, is in Monte Carlo working as a paid companion when she meets the aristocratic widower Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter. They fall in love, and within two weeks they are married.
She is now the second "Mrs. de Winter"; Maxim takes her back to Manderley, his country house in Cornwall. The housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers is domineering and cold and is obsessed with the beauty and sophistication of the first Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, all things that the new wife is not.
I could have written about one of th thirteen women named Rebecca in my family file but thought Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca much more interesting. What do you think? Do you also love the story of Rebecca? Maybe I will read Rebecca agin this weekend ....
I want to read this!!!!
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