I have wanted to read the classics for a while, books I have never had the chance to read. I never had to read the classics in high school. I was never in regular classes where the classics where a part of the curriculum like my friends were. So I've been wanting to make up for past times. Yet at the same time, I was avoiding reading Rebecca. I kind of wanted to keep on reading my easy reading books. I knew that reading Rebecca would take time and require me to think. And I just don't want to do that. My brain can't handle it. My biggest motivation in finally picking up the book to read was that it was due at the library soon.
It took me a while to get into the book, Rebecca. I think I kept on re-reading the first few pages because it wouldn't quite sink in. But once I overcame that obstacle, I was captivated. I came to see how it was considered a classic. It is well written. The story flowed. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what happened.
We meet a young woman, a quiet and demure sort of girl, who is working as a companion to a lady abroad. While in Monte Carlo, she meets and is "romanced" by a Maxim de Winter. Maxim de Winter is supposedly a grieving widower whose wife was lost at sea. He proposes and after a short honeymoon, the newlyweds return to Manderlay. Manderlay is the family home of the Maxim de Winter. The new Mrs. de Winter finds that Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, still has a strong presence at Manderlay. This is evident with Mrs. Danvers - the housekeeper who is devoted to the first Mrs. de Winter, her untouched bedroom, her sitting room among other things. Mrs. de Winter finds it difficult to overcome the ghost of Rebecca and fears that she will never live up to Rebecca in the eyes of the staff, Maxim or his family. When the de Winters are pressured to throw their annual costume ball, things come to a head. Mrs. Danvers subtly convinces Mrs. de Winter to wear a costume based on a painting in the house. Unbeknowst to Mrs. de Winters that it was the same costume that Rebecca wore at her last costume ball. Maxim is horrified and demands that his wife removes the costume. They spend the remainder of the ball under a facade of marital bliss. Mrs. de Winter is completely convinced that it was a mistake to have married Maxim and that Maxim is still in love with his first wife, Rebecca. The next morning, Mrs. Danvers shows her true colors and nearly drives Mrs. de Winter to suicide by jumping out the window. But a shipwreck at the nearby beach gets in the way. It is a good thing, in more ways than one. Maxim reveals that the true nature of his first marriage. He opens up about how Rebecca was a manipulator, an adulterer and just plain cruel. Maxim dealt with it because she was abolutely wonderful with Manderlay. Basically Maxim made a deal with the devil in exchange for a proper mistress for his family home. The last straw was when Rebecca flaunts the 'fact' that she was pregnant with her lover's baby. Maxim loses it and shoots her dead. He sinks her and her boat. She is presumed lost at sea. The rescue of the shipwreck leads to the location of the sunken boat. An investigation unearths Rebecca's secret visit to a doctor who reveals that she was terminal, not pregnant. Rebecca intentionally provoked Maxim to cause her death and his perpetual guilt. The de Winters return to Manderlay guilt free, only to find Manderlay in flames - all likely at the hands of Mrs. Danvers.
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