A haunting novel. The book is one of the best I've ever read. The story is centered around a nameless heroine who feels as though she is living in the shadow of her new husband's deceased wife. There are memories of Rebecca everywhere from; portraiture's, clothing, hand written notes; to a maid who worshiped her. Our young twenty-something antagonist can't seem to escape Rebecca's presence. In the depths of her insecurity the nameless narrator is nearly driven mad by jealousy and begins doubting her marriage. As the novel delves deeper into the enigma that is the beautiful 'louder than life' Rebecca, we find out that perception is a wicked trick and that nothing is what it seems. We are as clueless as the narrator, piecing together the mysterious artifacts of Rebecca's life and tragically mysterious death, until the whole story unravels (only at the very end of the novel).. The novel has a Othello'esque theme with a much more satisfying ending. People tend to assume,create and fabricate information and Du Maurier takes this very human and common attribute and demonstrates how presumptions are not truth and that there are always two sides to every story.
Alfred Hitchcock loved the story so much he made a film out of it...it is gothic,dark and enchanting. I'm going to read it for a third time.
