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Our unnamed protagonist, who works as a companion to Mrs Van Dee Hooper happens to chance Mr Maxim De Winter (a widower and who is almost twice the age of the protagonist) in a hotel. The acquaintance leads to couple of dates and eventually both of them fall in love with each other. Once, they marry, Maxim takes Mrs. De Winter to Manderley. Mrs. De Winter finds it difficult to adjust to the new house. Mrs. Denver, the devoted housekeeper of Rebecca (Maxim's first wife), still runs the house. She couldn’t resist anyone taking up raking up Rebecca’s place. Mrs. De Winter continues to think herself as inferior to Rebecca and strongly believes that Maxim is still in love with Rebecca. Mrs. Denvers uses this opportunity to persuade Mrs. De Winter to commit suicide. Slowly, it is revealed that Rebecca did not die of accident. Instead she is brutally murdered. Who killed Rebecca and why did they do so ? How was the guilty found and what punishment was given to the guilty forms the rest of the story.
After reading the first couple of chapters, I thought that the name of the narrator is Rebecca. I am surprised and shocked that the lead protagonist does not have a name at all throughout the book. She is addressed as either Mrs De Winter or Dear throughout the book. Then, when it is revealed that the Rebecca dies in a accident, I thought that there would be a flashback sequence where we would get to know about Rebecca. But Rebecca never makes a physical appearance in the book.
Most of the pages of the book is devoted to the imagination of Mrs De Winter. How can an author capture the thoughts of a women so effortlessly? I have read the works of various great authors of the 20th century like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon and others . They are all great authors and they have written great books. However, I would not classify any of them as literature. But, Rebecca is an unadulterated piece of literature.
I am also confused on the genre in which Rebecca should be placed. Is it a romantic novel? Is it a book on relationships? Is it a thriller? I will never know. The book also narrates the life of a woman from a humble background who finds it extremely difficult to adapt to the lives of the affluent people.
Daphne De Maurier has sketched some of the most beautiful and memorable characters in this book. Be it Rebecca, Mrs Denvers, Mrs Beatrice, Maxim or our protagonist, the characters will live on in our minds for ages. You will find it extremely difficult to come out of the book for sometime once you complete reading the book. You will find yourself sympathizing with most of the characters in the book.
I rest my case by saying that you will definetly regret if you are not reading this. This book is a treat for all the readers.
My rating : 5/5
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