Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier What a thriller!

 Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

What a thriller!

 

I am not sure what the critics say about Rebecca.

-          Is this a love story for the scholars?

The sure thing is that the novel is widely appreciated and included on the Modern Library List of best 100 novels of the 20^th century.

What has struck me most on the second look at this awesome book is the way it keeps you on the edge of seat, or with your heart pounding, depending on how you read it.

In my case, the second encounter has been through an adaptation for the National radio, which has highlighted some of the main points and made me think again about some of my first conclusions, which had been too favorable to Max de Winter.

The hero is after all a killer.

-          But what about Rebecca?

This is a strange occurrence and I can hardly think of another heroine at the center stage of a novel or play with such villainous inclinations and habits.

A she-devil.

The story starts with a dream and a trip into the past:

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again... I came upon it suddenly; the approach masked by the unnatural growth of a vast shrub that spread in all directions...”

After the dream, we meet a young woman who is employed by an obnoxious American. We also meet Maximilian de Winter, a rich widower that had gained my sympathy at the first read and also when played by Laurence Olivier in the film adaptation.

But even if he gains the affection of the young woman who would become the second Mrs. De Winter, Max is a rather repulsive character on my third encounter with him.

He is rude to his would be wife and the circumstances do explain his behavior, but it still seems awkward to like a man who shouts at his date, sends her packing, then marries her only to abandon and abuse her once in a while.

There are some moments of maximum tension:

When the second Mrs. De Winter smashes a porcelain object and hides it in a drawer, fearing the reaction of the housekeeper- Mrs. Danvers.

The story has in fact two harpies: the Supreme Witch, Rebecca and her devoted companion, Mrs. Danvers, who goes as far as to push her new mistress to suicide, which she does not commit, Alhamdulillah.

Mrs. Danvers gives only evil advice and she pushes the new mistress to dress in a most inappropriate way. This cause a terrible reaction from Max de Winter, who proves again to be a complex character, that I do not like anymore- I remember how good I felt about the love story between this man and his second wife on the first two occasions, but now I resent the murderer.

It is true that some of the events tend to justify cold blooded murder and pass it as a kind of a humane act, like putting to sleep an animal. I do not buy this now: when a murder had been committed, even if the dead person was intolerable and despicable, it is still a horrible deed and the killer cannot have our sympathy.

The story is very good and the fact that with every reading I feel different emotions and see the characters in various shades of (grey?) colors may stand as proof to that.