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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “The gold standard for the modern gothic tale. Spooky, with hints of the supernatural but no actual supernatural causes. |
Didn’t Like It “This author really does write about very passive females. This is the first book of hers that I was able to get through. I had to return the other two to the library becasue I couldn't stomach the pitifulness of the women. No backbones.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Originally borrowed from the library.
SpeaksofRivers wrote this review 22 hours ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Typically, reading horror for me is just a matter of reading an interesting story. I don't get chills, I don't get scared.
Suspense stories are different. The story plays with your sense of reality. With tales of monsters and ghosts, you can console yourself by saying "This isn't real". But in a novel like this, whether or not the phantom is real is irrelevant- it's like Poe.
You can die of fright whether the monster's real or imagined.
This story is romantic, evocative and delightfully creepy. ”
“I'm only at the beginning”
Hannah G wrote this review 6 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Loved it.”
Kathleen A wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A classic suspense novel filled with love and revenge. One of my favorite books of all time.”
i.should.b.reading wrote this review 10 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This author really does write about very passive females. This is the first book of hers that I was able to get through. I had to return the other two to the library becasue I couldn't stomach the pitifulness of the women. No backbones. ”
Sonya S wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“timeless classic”
Angela wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“good one”
rubymadan wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I like this novel so much , Enjoyed reading it ”
Alia M wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. . . With these words the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone manse 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 in the immense, foreboding estate 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. And 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.
Nisareen - So Much To Read So Little Time wrote this review Tuesday, November 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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“Despite its slow start, once I got to page 100, I couldn’t put this book down. It managed to surprise me several times.
Peach wrote this review Monday, November 16 2009. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The title character of Rebecca is the deceased first wife of Maxim de Winter, an aristocrat who after less than a year marries a much younger woman, the financially and psychologically insecure protagonist. Yet when the young protagonist comes home to their estate, Manderley, as the second Mrs. De Winter, she finds that Rebecca is still a powerful force in the house— not least because of the intense loyalty that the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers retains.
Both the strength and greatest weakness of this novel, to me, is the way that even the basest characters are given motivations. Some of their motivations are given as hints, through which Du Maurier introduces a lot of ambiguity into the story. Partly the ambiguity may be due to the fact that this book was written many years ago, so a reader today brings different assumptions. Yet, for any pair of characters, it’s not that obvious who the “bad guy” really is: the sinister Mrs. Danvers or the protagonist’s beloved Mr. de Winter? Rebecca or the protagonist herself?”
