September 17, 2009
Recent Reading: Rebecca
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I am very much enjoying reading the classics selections with my new book club; however, when I see the word "romance" or "romantic" anywhere on the front cover, I lose interest. So when I bought my copy of Rebecca and read "The classic tale of romantic suspense" on the cover, I could not immediately start reading it. But when I did start, I read it rapidly, wanting desperately to find out why this couple lives in hotels and has settled into a routine of reading the English news rather than going home to experience it. I was not disappointed. (I was also pleased that the most "romance" in the book was this: "We began to kiss one another, feverishly, desperately, like guilty lovers who have not kissed before." Whew.)
I'm intrigued by the idea that du Maurier wrote an entire novel and didn't name the narrator; I spent much of the book not liking Maxim very much; and I wanted to jump into the book and throw Mrs. Danvers out the window on more than one occasion.
One of my favorite lines comes when Beatrice is conjecturing about the death of Rebecca. "A Communist, perhaps. There are heaps of them about. Just the sort of thing a Communist would do." I was so absorbed in the mystery and suspense at the time that I laughed out loud at the unexpected insertion of Communists into the plot.
Then, after I finished the book, I turned it over and read the brief bio blurb on the back cover, which sparked my memory and endeared du Maurier to me even more. Daphne du Maurier also wrote the short story "The Birds," which became the Hitchcock movie The Birds.
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From Rita • Posted 1 year ago • Reply
Rita Diane Devlin
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