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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Rebecca's tale takes place 20 years after the death of Rebecca, the first wife of Maxim de Winter, from the book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. |
Didn’t Like It “I read this book because I read that the du Maurier estate chose this author to do the pastiche. Because I enjoyed the Mary Russell series (Sherlock Holmes) so much, I looked forward to reading this. What a mistake. This book is not written nearly as well as the original Rebecca, which is...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“I saw the movie again in a film class a year or so ago & re-read Rebecca at the same time. Enjoyed seeing the way the script had to be altered to meet the standards of the Hayes code.
MizLoo wrote this review Thursday, September 13, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
DuMaurier's novel did not hold up well for me, probably for the same reasons Capote's :"in Cold Blood" didn't: in the intervening years, what was fresh and innovative when first published has been copied and re-done so often that it has become old hat. Rather tough on the originators, I think.
I like multiple POV novels and this one has strikingly different voices and well-drawn characters. And the questions that remain after one has read Rebecca are supplemented with questions about the various narrators. Having recently struggled with Julian Barnes' "the Sense of an Ending," I found myself much more analytical about the biases and assumptions of the four narrators here. Interesting how discoveries made reading one novel can give depth to my understanding of a very different work.
I liked the choices of narrators - an old-fashioned elderly man speaking in 1952, a 30-ish man writing in the same era, Rebecca - writing just before she dies, and a 31year old woman who is affected in different ways by each of the other narrators. The author captures a bit too much of the gothic DuMaurier obsession with plants and weather, but I found it to be a good read overall, with a surprisingly sprightly ending. Fun!”
“At the end of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Manderley is ablaze and the new Mrs. Maxim de Winter is unsure whether the previous mistress of Manderley died of suicide or was murdered. In Sally Bauman's, gothic novel it is now twenty years later and this novel is told through four voices: Col. Arthur Julyan, a friend of Maxim; Ellie, Arthur's devoted daughter; Terry Gray, a local historian, and Rebecca herself through her diaries. As the first three re-investigate Rebecca's diaries and the events surrounding Rebecca's disappearance at sea and subsequent discovery, the reader obtains a better glimpse behind the woman who longed to live at Manderley along the sea as a child and possible cause of her death. If Daphne Du Maurier was still alive, she would recommend this book.”
John W wrote this review Monday, May 14, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I read this book because I read that the du Maurier estate chose this author to do the pastiche. Because I enjoyed the Mary Russell series (Sherlock Holmes) so much, I looked forward to reading this. What a mistake. This book is not written nearly as well as the original Rebecca, which is haunting and intriguing. I'll finish it, but it's a waste of time when there are so many other good titles from which to choose.
Jennifer S wrote this review Saturday, May 5, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
May5, 2012: OK, that last comment may have been a little harsh. I finished the book and I wouldn't have done that if it was complete tripe. If you're interested, definitely read Rebecca by duMaurier first, then read this one.”
“I got 157 pages in and still had read nothing new. All it is is a rehash of the old story about Rebecca's death told from different perspectives. There was nothing in it to that point to give you any insight into who Rebecca was or why her stiory had to end the way it did. I couldn't read anymore because I just didn't care.”
Dianne L wrote this review Tuesday, April 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Some stoires need never be further explained. Rebecca de Winter's story is just such a one. ”
Roberta L. Kobbe wrote this review Saturday, March 3, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This was a really thought provoking book on the past and how different people view and interpret it. Rebecca is a favorite of mine, so I devoured this book because it gave me more of something I already loved. The book is divided in four sections, Julyan, Gray, Rebecca, and Ellie. Each tell a different part of the story and each has a different motive. Julyan, Gray, and Ellie each have a different motive for uncovering who Rebecca really was and what her fate was. In the end, each comes away with a different truth. Beauman does an excellent job of echoing DuMaurier in this book, which only adds to the charm.”
Kay N wrote this review Wednesday, February 8, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“3 STARS "April 1951. It is twenty years since the death of Rebecca, the hauntingly beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter. Twenty years since Manderley, the de Winter family's estate, was destroyed by fire. But Rebecca's tale is just beginning. Colonel Julyan, an old family friend, receives an anonymous package concerning Rebecca. An inquisitive young scholar named Terence Gray appears and stirs up the quiet seaside hamlet with disturbing questions about the past -- and with the close ties he soon forges with the Colonel and his eligible daughter, Ellie. Amid bitter gossip and murky intrigue, the trio begins a search for the real Rebecca, and the truth behind her mysterious death." (From Amazon)
Kris wrote this review Monday, July 16, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A great look at Rebecca the woman that haunts Daphne Du Maurier's gripping novel, Rebecca. I am not a fan of the character Rebecca but it gives her more dimension. ”
“This is a complex book that is continuation of Daphne DuMaurier's "Rebecca" some twenty years after Rebecca's death. The cast of characters combines new and old characters and reads like a mystery.
N. Mathu, AHS Library wrote this review Saturday, July 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If you haven't read "Rebecca" recently, you may want to re-read Rebecca before you begin this; if you don't, you may read the first couple of chapters and realize you wish you had. Nice and complex. Not sure if the ending was satisfactory or not.”
“It was nothing like the movie thingy. I watched this really stupid movie called the Four Musketeers and the witch was the Lady de Winter. Well, wrong lady I guess. Her death still seems like a mystery and I still can't quite grasp the meaning of this book, but it was very interesting...(A little bit sleepy....)”
SoulsticeX3 wrote this review Thursday, March 10, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“First of all, I have to point out that this book is nowhere near as good as Rebecca, it has none of the elegant writing, the sweeping scenery or the atmosphere that I loved about the original. It is also nothing like Rebecca, as it's set up more as a mystery. Having said that, it had some good parts and some interesting aspects. The story was set (mostly) 20 years after Rebecca's death and is told by 4 characters, including Rebecca. This alone disrupts the flow of the story considerably and, as so often is the case, some parts were better than others. The book explores Rebecca's origins as well as what really happened to her, although in the course of reading the book I found that I didn't actually want to know any of this. It does flesh out some of the characters of the original, but overall I found it added little to the story. It was ok, I enjoyed parts of it, but I wouldn't read it again. It definitely didn't take me back to Manderlay.”
Sabina E wrote this review Friday, January 21, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
