Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.


This is a book I see on a lot of book lists but didn't really know anything about. I found a cheap paperback the other day and decided to give it a whirl. I was hooked on this thing like no body's business. I couldn't read it fast enough.

"I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say."


The little lady narrator of this tale is not named (a trend lately in the books I'm reading) but she meets and married a man named Maxim de Winter and goes off to live at his estate, Manderly. Our narrator is obsessed with the image of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who died at sea nearby.

Our narrator's stress is so high you can't help but feel it yourself. She is constantly second guessing herself and is never sure how to act around the staff that is supposed to be catering to her. Added in is Mrs. Danvers, who runs Manderly and was Rebecca's personal maid. She does not make things any easier for the new Mrs. de Winters.

"I wanted to go on sitting there, not talking, not listening to the others, keeping the moment precious for all time, because we were peaceful all of us, we were content and drowsy even as the bee who droned above our heads. In a little while it would be different, there would come tomorrow, and the next day and another year. And we would be changed perhaps, never sitting quite like this again."

Mrs. de Winters does her best to fit in to her new surroundings, even though she was not raised in such a high social class. She loves her new husband but does not always know how to be the wife he needs.

There is a huge twist in this book that blew me away. In conclusion, this book is on reading lists for a reason. Highly recommend.

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