Poor, plain Mrs. de Winter. She scurries around Manderley like a frightened little mouse, fraught with insecurity, terrified of the servants, sweet and young and stupidly in love. Despite all this yearning, her emotionally catatonic husband dreams only of her predecessor, Rebecca. And Rebecca's presence clings to Manderley like a sinister negligee. Daphne du Maurier applies pressure expertly; she knows all about the kinetic urgency of a ghost story, and the appeal of a good madonna/whore dichotomy.
— Carly
After reading "Rebecca," you'll pull your collar against the fog and look at everyone askance, assuming they have a dark, sordid history and cannot under any circumstance be trusted. It's true. They cannot. Do not trust them.
— Landon
A meek bride, an aloof husband, a terrorizing servant, and the incomparable woman that beguiles them all: Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier's classic novel evokes Jane Eyre with its unassuming narrator and gothic manor, but swerves a romantic plot into a tale of simmering suspense and haunting passion. The perfect read for a dark night by a smoky fire.
— Chris B.Now a Netflix film starring Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas
"Last Night I Dreamt I went to Manderley Again..."
With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion 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 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. 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.
This special edition of Rebecca includes excerpts from Daphne du Maurier's The Rebecca Notebook and Other Memories, an essay on the real Manderley, du Maurier's original epilogue to the book, and more.
A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick
Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) has been called one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Among her more famous works are The Scapegoat, Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, and the short story "The Birds," all of which were subsequently made into films—the latter three directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
“Du Maurier is in a class by herself.” — New York Times