Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Sometimes the best books are found when we look to the past.  Classics are so named because they stand the test of time.  In Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca we find such a treasure.  The fact that this book has never gone out of print since it was first published in 1938 reinforces its proper placement on any list of classics. Rebecca, according to Du Maurier, is a gothic novel even though reviewers have insisted on describing it as a romance.  As a gothic novel, the setting becomes just as important as the characters or plot and this is certainly clear in that this story is driven by the central importance of the English estate on which it is set, Manderley.  The great Cornwall estate presents a brooding, secretive, dark backdrop to the action; it seems that the castle-like house and the extensive grounds that surround it control all the main characters. For example, the grounds of the estate play into the suspense as seen in the narrator's descriptions of the azaleas as being "blood red" and monstrous and the trees that line the drive as forbidding and encroaching as if they are trying to trap anyone who dares to enter.  The narrator, the second wife of Maxim de Winter, is fearful and unsure in this place that she feels she is so unfit to live.  So, the setting is a wonderful enhancement to the mystery that unfolds.  The plot centers around the death of the first Mrs. de Winters, Rebecca, who we find did not die accidentally but was indeed murdered.  We find that Maxim was not the heartbroken husband who had lost the love of his life, but was instead a man who hated his first wife with a deep and dark anger.  We find also that the remaining characters, especially Mrs. Danvers the house manager and Rebecca's personal maid, have never really let Rebecca go but have instead kept Manderley just as if she might walk back in from the beach cottage, her sanctuary.  This is twisted, tormented, dark novel.  It could very well be described as the original Gone Girl.  It is a classic and wonderfully intense and brooding.  Read and enjoy!