Rebecca

This book, arguably the most famous novel by Daphne du Maurier, was another that I've been reading on my family holiday in Cornwall - where it is set, appropriately enough. In fact I acquired my copy of the book from Jamaica Inn when we were here last year - and as a tourist destination I would recommend this museum as a spotlight into 19th-century trade and culture. But enough said about that, onto the novel.*

   Narrated by an unnamed young woman, we are introduced to the high-society world of late-19th-century tourism. The narrator is working as a professional companion to a terrible lady on holiday in Monte Carlo, but her life is turned upside-down when she strikes up a relationship with Maxim, a handsomely wealthy man. She becomes his wife, quits her job, and travels with Maxim back to Manderley - his Cornish mansion/estate. However once there she soon finds herself becoming increasingly isolated in the bigness of the house and the rich shallowness of the life; and these factors are compounded by, in the flesh the creepy housekeeper Mrs Danvers, and in spirit by the memory of Maxim's first wife - Rebecca - who has been dead for several years. So follows a romantic mystery that I will not spoil here.

   I enjoyed this novel a lot more than I thought I would - historical romances not really being my favourite genre - and found myself shocked in many places at Maxim's cold treatment of his new bride, Mrs Danvers's scheming, and the unfolding of the plot. The characters (and alongside the main four I've already mentioned there are a wealth of side-characters) are extremely well-drawn and breathe vivacity and believability into the story, which is powerful in itself, and extremely skilfully told: du Maurier is a writer of immense subtlety and potency, and everything in this novel from the descriptions of Manderley's grounds to the narrator's inner turmoil are laid out in exquisite prose. I think leaving the narrator unnamed was a stroke of genius, as it really pulls you into her struggles in an empathic way.

   So, on reflection, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes period-piece drama/romance, with the caveat that what the story turns into is far more drama than romance - aside from, of course, Maxim's continuing obsession with the late eponymous Rebecca - and less strongly but still positively would recommend this if you just like a good novel. It's beautifully written, psychologically realistic, and narratively compelling; it will make you both envy and pity those who lived the kinds of lifestyles in the kinds of houses that these characters do.

* If you're into film versions, there are several - I've watched the classic old black-and-white version as well as the Netflix adaptation, and in all honesty enjoyed the latter more, but you do you.