I wrote in my last post about HeavenAli’s #DDMreadingweek project and my status as a DDM newbie. I started reading Rebecca and was hooked from the very first, very famous line: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”….
Little did I know that I was in for a transformative experience. It is a very long time since I picked up a book which I could hardly put down again. Oh what a joy it was to be totally engulfed by this utterly compelling story and DdM’s brilliant story-telling. The tension; the characters; the scene-setting – I was on the edge of my seat right through to the last word.
I’m not sure why I have not been drawn to Du Maurier’s work before. Perhaps, with Rebecca in particular, it was because I felt like I already knew the book by osmosis. If so, how wrong I was and how very glad I am to have put all of that behind me.
I have loved all the various DDM posts on other blogs so far this week and have a hugely expanded To Be Read list as a result. In addition, let me ask all you DDM aficionados, have you read either of the Rebecca sequels (by Susan Hill and Sally Beauman) and if so, can you recommend them? I can’t imagine anything matching up to the original but it might be intriguing to see how these authors move the story forward.
And I feel compelled to read more about DDM herself. I have my eye on her autobiographical book Myself When Young, thanks to Sandra over at A Corner of Cornwall and I know there are plenty of other biographies around. Is there anything you would particularly recommend?
Let me close by saying a huge thanks to Ali for hosting this excellent reading enterprise and for inducting me into the wonderful world of DDM’s writing. 🙂
Oh, good–you loved it! I figured you would! I haven’t read the sequels but I’ll check back to see if anyone else has an opinion. I don’t think I’d like them . . . The House on the Strand is good, too!
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I did indeed love it! And The House on the Strand looks great – definitely on the list now 🙂
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It’s great to hear how much you enjoyed it Liz! I remember being similarly entranced when I read it as a teenager. It’s a mystery why I never picked up DDM again until this week! I agree all the posts have been wonderful.
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Ali has done us all a great service!
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I first read Rebecca in high school and loved it even then. I reread it a couple of years ago and enjoyed it all over again. I’m so glad you enjoyed it too!
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I have a feeling that it won’t be long before I re-read it – something I hardly every do!
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I must have read Rebecca at some point but it is so long ago that it is but a dim and distant memory. Perhaps the time has come for a re-read.
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It definitely sounds like it! 🙂
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There are so many books to read and you’ve done more than your bit to read as many as possible! Lovely that you’ve found this classic so engaging. Now I must read it!!!!
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I think you would really enjoy it, so definitely one to put on your list! Xxx
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I haven’t read the sequels and have no inclination to, because it is so good as it is. But I do really strongly recommend getting hold of a DVD or download of the BBC adaptation from 1979 – I would never have believed it was that long ago if I hadn’t just googled it! – which had Anna Massey as an insidious and haunting Mrs Danvers, as mesmerising as a snake, Jeremy Brett as Max and Joanna David as the second Mrs DeWinter. Powerful and Atmospheric. Here’s a link ( I think) and now read Jamaica Inn!
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Thanks so much for that link – it looks brilliant. That’s my weekend viewing sorted (in between stages of the Giro d’Italia!!). And I am already a few chapters in to Jamaica Inn – gripping!! 🙂
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There’s yet another version of Rebecca in the works at the moment. Kristin Scott Thomas has been cast as Mrs Danvers. Those cheekbones will be perfect! 😀
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Ooh sounds great!
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PS – Liz, check out the link posted by Clare – it’s brilliant!
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haha, yes! very droll.
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So very glad you enjoyed Rebecca, Du Maurier definitely has that unputdownable quality about her writing.
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Bravo for your project, Ali – already looking forward to next year’s DDM reading week!!!
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I’m glad you’ve had such a great experience with your first du Maurier novel! I had similar feelings when I read Rebecca for the first time, many years ago. I have read the Sally Beauman sequel, Rebecca’s Tale, but can’t remember much about it now. It was worth reading, I think, as long as you don’t expect it to compare to the original.
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Thanks Helen, that’s really interesting about the Beauman. I completely agree with you that any sequels must be read with managed expectations. It’s a bonus then if they turn out to be enjoyable!
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Liz, I am so pleased at your reaction to Rebecca. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I think Du Maurier suffers by being cast as a writer of romance (though she regards Rebecca as a study in jealousy) and her versality and abilities don’t always get the recognition they deserve. We are certainly putting that to rights in Ali’s reading week! I haven’t read any of the sequels/prequels/spin offs but I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts if you try any of them. Jamaica Inn is perfect as your next DDM book, chock-full of foreboding, atmosphere and dark deeds yet never losing her capacity as a writer of exquisite sentences. I should have another post out this evening on Myself When Young (shorter than the last one I hope 😉 ) There are of course all manner of biographies about her, Margaret Forster’s being the best regarded I think. It’s a long while since I read it but I remember not really absorbing much of it. MWY is a much gentler way in, covering just her early life and written with a lightness and vivacity.
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Such helpful thoughts, Sandra, thank you. I am already gripped by Jamaica Inn and may well look at the Forster, as well as MWY of course!
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Ooops – and forgot to add, thanks for the mention 🤗
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Isn’t it brilliant?! I consider myself very lucky to have read this young and without any foreknowledge – and to have grown up in Cornwall at a time when DDM books were everywhere.
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It must have been amazing to be steeped in all that DDM! I’m not sure I would have sufficiently appreciated Rebecca if I had read it when young but anyway am so glad to have done so now.
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I am so pleased you enjoyed ‘Rebecca’. You must know Mitchell and Webb’s version! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UilXs_wMRhs
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Clare that is absolutely hilarious, thank you! X
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My pleasure! xx
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So glad you liked it. That makes me want to read another DDM book too now. 🙂
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I had no idea she had written so many brilliant-sounding stories! 😀
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