One of the most famous novels of the 20th century, available in a beautiful new hardback VMC set of Daphne du Maurier classics.
Daphne du Maurier (1907-89) was born in London, the daughter of the famous actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and granddaughter of George du Maurier, the author and artist. In 1931 her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published. A biography of her father and three other novels followed, but it was the novel Rebecca that launched her into the literary stratosphere and made her one of the most popular authors of her day. In 1932, du Maurier married Major Frederick Browning, with whom she had three children.Many of du Maurier's bestselling novels and short stories were adapted into award-winning films, including Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now. In 1969 du Maurier was awarded a DBE. She lived most of her life in Cornwall, the setting for many of her books.
From the opening sentence - "Last night I dreamed I went to
Manderley again" - to the final - "And the ashes blew towards us
with the salt wind from the sea" - I was hooked ... Rebecca is one
of the underrated classics of the 20th century ... Rebecca is a
masterpiece in which du Maurier pulls off several spectacular
high-wire acts that many great writers wouldn't attempt
*Guardian*
One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century,
Rebecca has woven its way into the fabric of our culture with all
the troubling power of myth or dream. A stunning book
With one of the most evocative first lines ever, Daphne du
Maurier's fifth novel has everything a reader could ask for . . .
Psychologically astute and disturbingly romantic, Rebecca was an
immediate bestseller on publication in 1938 and has cast a sinister
spell ever since
*Marie Claire*
Her masterpiece . . . Seldom has a dead woman exercised such power
beyond the grave. Rebecca will live for ever because du Maurier
touches a fearful nerve, buried deep in the unconscious
*The Times*
It's the perfect winter book, brooding, dangerous and
engrossing
*Sainsbury's Magazine*
Addictive and breathtaking. Its blending of melodrama and subtlety
is ingenious. The Cornish setting never quite leaves the
imagination
*Independent*
A brilliantly constructed novel - the ultimate in psychological
suspense, instantly gripping and haunting, Rebecca will stay with
you for ever.
*Psychologies*
A mesmerising novel which reveals more on each reading
It is the greatest psychological thriller of all time. I see du
Maurier as a forerunner to Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell,
Gillian Flynn: she is the giant whose magnificent shoulders the
rest of us stand upon
What she did was build emotional landscapes that can be entered at
will, in which difficult and untamable desires were given free
rein. Maybe because of her relationship with gender, she was able
to make worlds in which people and even houses are mysterious and
mutable, not as they seem; haunted rooms in which disembodied
spirits sometimes dance at absolute liberty
*Guardian*
I read this book more than twenty years ago, and must have read it
a dozen times since. The characters are incredibly vivid, and the
twists superb. It's the book every writer wishes they'd written
*Clare Mackintosh*
This 1930s gothic thriller is suspenseful and so well crafted. Its
young, nameless heroine marries rich widower Maxim de Winter and
returns with him to his mansion, Manderley, only to find the ghost
of his first wife, Rebecca, still lingers
*Good Housekeeping*
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