Why daphne du mauriers rebecca is still popular 80 years on. Mrs danvers enters daphne du maurier s rebecca in an image so extreme it seems to have surged through a hellportal. Rebecca is a 1938 gothic novel by english author dame daphne du maurier. Daphne du maurier leased a place called menabilly which became the basis for the fictional manderley. Rebecca by daphne du maurier is by far the oldest book ive read in awhile it was published in. Rebecca has been called a modern jane eyre, and there are certainly striking similarities between the. Rebecca by maurier, daphne du and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Rebecca by daphne du maurier chapter 1 summary and analysis. In 1986, an episode of the comic strip presents called consuela parodied rebecca. Listen the summary of the novel rebecca by daphne du maurier.
Her initials are on everything, her clothes are still in the house, her perfume hangs in the air, and perhaps worst of. She also wrote the novel the loving spirit 1931, the travel guide vanishing cornwall 1967, and the story collection the rendezvous and other stories 1980. Rebecca by daphne du maurier, read by alex kingston youtube. As the nft reissues hitchcocks adaptation, liz hoggard revisits du mauriers modern classic.
I called in my dream to the lodge keeper, and had no. Podcast for kids nfb radio 101 sermon podcast backstage opera for iphoneipod pauping off all steak no sizzle podcast church of the oranges. Very roughly, the book will be about the influence of a first wife on a second. Inchingly, daphne du mauriers difficult novel came together. Rebecca 80th anniversary edition by daphne du maurier is published by virago on 1 march. Her work was not critically well received when during her life time, but in recent years has earned respect. Daphne du maurier always said her novel rebecca was a study in jealousy seventyfive years after daphne du maurier published rebecca, her son tells christian house how the authors own torrid. It concerns an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, only to discover that he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character. Rebecca by daphne du maurier, sally beauman waterstones. Apart from several short stories published at the end of the 1920s, du mauriers writing career really began with her first novel, the loving spirit 1931, and daphne du maurier continued writing books right up until the publication of her last novel in 1972, rule britannia. An influential british author, daphne du maurier was an institution within her own right, who came to be respected as a masterful storyteller with a keen eye for both structure and form, something which many have tried to replicate over the intervening years since her death to varying degrees of success.
Among her more famous works are the scapegoat, jamaica inn, rebecca, and the short story the birds, all of which were subsequently made into filmsthe latter three directed by alfred hitchcock. If daphne du maurier had written only rebecca, she would still be one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Mar 22, 2017 as a teenager reading rebecca for the first time, i was sure du maurier wanted us to think she was rebecca. Rebecca was adapted by alfred hitchcock into a popular film 1940. Like all great openings it captures our imagination and makes us want to read more.
Like the earlier rebecca, it is a mystery romance, set primarily on a large estate in cornwall. See all books authored by daphne du maurier, including rebecca, and my cousin rachel, and more on. May not include discs, access code or other supplemental materials. But more than this, the authors use of unconventional techniques effectively brings power and moodiness to the work. Ex library book with the usual stamps, stickers and labels. This novel even blurs the lines between villain and victim, disrupting any simplified ideas we have about good and evil, and truth and. Du maurier had just given birth to her second child and her husband, lt. Daphne du maurier 19071989 was an english author and playwright.
Daphne du mauriers most famous novel often finds itself bracketed as romance, which is rather like shelving anna karenina in the chicklit section. What du maurier understood is that the heart of the romantic gothic is the struggle between two women, one. The lonely city by olivia laing is published by canongate. 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. Rebecca by daphne du maurier was published in 1938. Du maurier plotted her novel well and brought it to exactly the ending it should have. It was tense, shocking and du maurier created a world i just wanted to jump straight in to. From a very young age she was what she called a halfbreed, female on the outside with a boys mind and a boys heart. Rebecca by daphne du maurier, published in 1938, is surely the most iconic of the british authors novels. Growing up in the house that inspired rebecca telegraph. Daphne du maurier always said her novel rebecca was a.
Instead of using his temporary leave from the army to spend time with his new daughter, he and daphne spent a few months traveling through eurasia, seeing sights. Daphne du mauriers publisher, victor gollancz, announcing rebecca in 1938, called it an exquisite lovestory, which says more for his salesmanship than it does for his truthfulness. Log in or sign up to leave a comment log in sign up. With one the most famous opening lines in books, i dived into the most popular work of daphne du maurier rebecca. One of du maurier s intriguing devices is her refusal to name her heroine, the firstperson narrator, known only as the second mrs. I remember telling the story of rebecca to my husband in cliff note style. I recently read rebecca and it blew me away, i just ordered my cousin rachel. The story has its origins in a portrait of rachel carew at antony house in cornwall, which du maurier saw and took as inspiration. Not irl, of course, but, yes, i thought she was pretending to be her own main character, being coy with reference to her unusual first name, and i understood her surprise about seeing it spelled correctly. In 1937, daphne du maurier signed a threebook deal with victor gollancz and accepted an advance of. I listened to daphne du maurier s classic rebecca in audio and was mesmerised from the haunting opening sentence last night i dreamt i went to manderley again it seemed to me i stood by the iron gates leading to the drive. This study guide consists of approximately 81 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of rebecca. General frederick browning, was away working for the british army.
Daphne du maurier s rebecca is crucial to the genre, for in it du maurier simplified and organized these six elements, refining the narrative, concentrating the mythic, and enriching the ambiguity of her tale. Daphne du maurier called rebecca a study in jealousy. The manderley estate where rebecca is set was based on a house called menabilly, on the south coast of cornwall. Daphne du maurier may 1907april 19 1989 was an author and playwright who had a deep love for cornwall. Rebecca endures as du mauriers masterpiece and mrs danvers, the superbly sinister housekeeper, stands as a fictional icon. Wandering in strange cities, foreign lands, open spaces, fighting, drinking, loving physically. So often classics are boring and predictable yet this was neither. Rebecca was recently voted the nations favourite book of the past 225. Daphne du maurier 19071989 has been called one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. The only mistress of manderley, and a character that failed to seem evil or corrupt to me despite daphne du mauriers best attempts. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable.
This novel being one of my favourites book, it was interesting to read the author notebook to see how she built her plot, when to reveal leading facts and place important reflections of the second mrs. If you would like to get involved with our book of the month try answering our book club questions published every month. The first was an adaptation of her novel rebecca that was published in 1938. Rebecca is pretty dark and heady stuff a love story perhaps, but only in the twisted and haunted fashion that dracula and wuthering heights can be described as love stories. 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. Just wanted to give a big shout out to all the book bloggers out there that urged me to give this one a go.
Rebecca endures as du maurier s masterpiece and mrs danvers, the superbly sinister housekeeper, stands as a fictional icon. Rebecca, a unique novel by daphne du maurier, an english author and playwright of the 20th century, is a love drama with gothic elements. During the british authors lifetime, critics frequently dismissed her work because it was popular with the public, readable, and riveting. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Daphne du maurier s most famous novel often finds itself bracketed as romance, which is rather like shelving anna karenina in the chicklit section. In the beginning of the novel, the narrator is the. Nov 22, 2009 the rebecca with her highly attuned sense of style and fashion, her daring actions and her bold adventures. What an author of enchanting as well as enigma fiction was dame daphne du maurier. Daphne du maurier was born in london in 1907 into a rich and famous family, and she was the granddaughter of george du maurier whose celebrated victorian novel trilby launched that word and that of its evil villain svengali into the english language.
Daphne du maurier and cornwall transceltic home of the. Rebecca novel project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. This woman, our narrator, is dreaming of returning to a place called manderley, but she and the man shes with can never go back. So her career spans a wide temporal range across the twentieth century. Rebecca love, paranoia, obsession seventy years on, and its appeal is as broad as ever. Widely considered a classic, it is a psychological thriller about a young woman who becomes obsessed with her husbands first wife. A bestseller, there were 2,829,3 copies of rebecca sold between its publication in 1938 and 1965, and the book has never gone out of print. Rebecca is a novel by english author daphne du maurier. The rebecca notebook and epilogue is daphne du mauriers original plan of her wellknown novel rebecca seerebecca. Virago celebrates 80 years of rebecca with embroidered. She is best known for her novel rebecca which in the us won the national book award. The story begins with her memories of how she and maxim first met.
Rebecca by daphne du maurier, daphne du maurier, paperback. Seventyfive years after daphne du maurier published rebecca, her son. Very roughly, the book will be about the influence of a first wife on a. Buy rebecca by daphne du maurier online at alibris. Another is that rebecca, the titular character, is never seen in the. Rebecca npr coverage of rebecca by daphne, dame du maurier. Rebecca by daphne du maurier bibliography sales rank. Jul 06, 2017 what a pity im not a vagrant on the face of the earth, du maurier wrote in her diary at 21. Daphne du maurier always said her novel rebecca was a study in. Many of her works were adapted into films, including the novels rebecca and jamaica inn and the short stories the birds and dont look now. Though its an excellent book, it bugged me a lot because the heroine, who is the narrator does not have a name all we know is that she has a lovely and unusual name in the story until she gets married, and you do not know. Daphne du maurier ist mittlerweie zu meiner lieblingsschriftstellerin geworden.
Daphne du maurier books list of books by author daphne. Generally regarded as daphne du mauriers masterpiece, rebecca has never been out this beautiful first line is instantly recognisable, and has passed into our culture. When i turned the last page of the book, i had so many feelings and immediately i began comparing it with my cousin rachel. Throughout the engrossing story, the characters experience much and as a result, the characters undergo both temporary and lifealtering changes to their thoughts, beliefs and behavior. She did get so irritated with people calling it a romantic novel. The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. This is a shrilling story of two wornout souls, which are looking for, and finally find each other in the surrounding darkness. She knew the title but not what would constitute the crash. In total she wrote 15 novels, 12 nonfiction books, 3 plays and a number of collections of her novels rebecca and jamaica inn, set in cornwall, were adapted for. Jan 30, 2003 rebecca is a masterpiece in which du maurier pulls off several spectacular highwire acts that many great writers wouldnt attempt jim crace guardian a mesmerising novel which reveals more on each reading helen dunmore a brilliantly constructed novel the ultimate in psychological suspense, instantly gripping and haunting, rebecca. Daphne du maurier always said her novel rebecca was a study in jealousy seventyfive years after daphne du maurier published rebecca, her. It is wellknown that maxims widely adored wife rebecca, has recently drowned at sea and the local people. Daphne du maurier leased the house for a great number of years and once said. Rebecca pdf is a gothic tale by english creator dame daphne du maurier.
One of du mauriers intriguing devices is her refusal to name her heroine, the firstperson narrator, known only as the second mrs. Dec 14, 2017 virago modern classics is celebrating the 80th anniversary of rebecca by daphne du maurier with a special edition of the tale, which includes a gothic, handstitched embroidered jacket and new. Actually, the opposite of rebecca if a person can have an opposite youll see why in a minute. Du mauriers bestselling novel reveals much about the authors fluid sexuality her venetian tendencies and. The story is set evocatively in the wilds of cornwall, in a large country house called manderley. Some difficult words and phrases in this book are important for understanding the story. Rebecca and millions of other books are available for instant access. Rebecca, a novel written by daphne du maurier illustrates this point. This is one of the more famous lines in literature certainly it belongs in the same conversation as call me ishmael. Born in london in 1907 to a wellknown actor and granddaughter of a noted illustrator she won fame for her exceptional jobs of fiction. Apr 15, 2020 daphne du maurier, english novelist and playwright, daughter of actormanager sir gerald du maurier, best known for her novel rebecca 1938.
Rebecca was daphne du mauriers most famous and bestloved novel. It makes me a little ashamed to admit it, but i do believe i love mena more than people. I had already read my cousin rachel by the same author and just loved it. A lavish adaptation of daphne du maurier s classic tale of romance, suspense, and jealousy, rebecca is set in elegant monte carlo and dramatic cornwall in the 1930s. Daphne du maurier books, ebooks, audiobooks, biography. Seventyfive years after daphne du maurier published rebecca, her son tells. Rebecca is the novel that made daphne du maurier famous and that remains her bestknown work. The second play was the years between that opened on 10th january 1945 and the third one was called september tide which first opened on 15th december 1948. Why daphne du mauriers rebecca is still popular 80 years on the. Few writers have created more magical and mysterious places than jamaica inn and manderley, buildings invested with a rich character that gives them a memorable life of their own. Maxs first wife, rebecca, had drowned a few years earlier, and the house is ghostly with her presence.
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