"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." may well be my favorite opening sentence in a novel.

Rebecca the novel has a similar enthralling element as Max De Winter's first wife, Rebecca, casts on those who knew her. His second wife, the person transcribing the book, feels so overcome by her presence she never even names herself. Is Rebecca's spirit still inhabiting her former home, Manderley? Will her ghost relinquish Max to love again?

Releasing to Mellion108 via mail tomorrow as part of my one year BC anniversary celebration.

Woo hoo! I got this book today from AmberLee17 as part of her one-year BookCrossing anniversary project. I have always loved this book, and it's long overdue for a re-read.

I'll treasure every word and then let this little book fly by October 21!! Thanks!

Happy Anniversary AmberLee17!

In honor of AmberLee's BookCrossing anniversary, I'm releasing this book as a bookray on October 21, 2003.

Bookray participants:

• wandeca (Canada)
  
• wyldanthem (Virginia, USA)
  
• Kernow8 (Virginia, USA)
  
• tootshelling (Arizona, USA)
  
• shaunesay (Kansas, USA)
  
• nillabreen (Massachusetts, USA)
  
• caligula03 (California, USA)
  
• DianeO (U.K.) Current reader!
  
• hathyia (Malaysia)
  

I agree with AmberLee17. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" has to be one of the most memorable opening lines of any book I've read. It was such a joy to re-read this classic after so many years. I found that, as a married adult, the themes in the book struck me quite differently than they did when I was a young teenager.

The narrator ("the girl") in the book goes from acting like a bumbling, unconfident schoolgirl posing as a rich lady's companion to a calculating, head-held-high married woman running a large estate. But the ghosts of her much older husband's past cling tenaciously to her and to the Manderley household. As she slowly gains knowledge of her predecessor, and as some darker, more horrible truths make themselves known, the girl gains confidence and an understanding of a world that doesn't always fit into society's rules. I love when she realizes, "I could fight the living but I could not fight the dead." Brilliant!

Of course, it's rather odd to read this in today's setting where wives are not automatically expected to essentially be children under the care of their husbands. So, although some of the dialogue and customs are dated, the book still holds up well as an example of how secrets can be destructive and how we all tend to present a different front to the people around us rather than our true selves. It was a great read, and I'm so glad for the opportunity to dive into this story again. I can't help but constantly picture Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine as the lead roles while reading the book! Darn that Hitchcock!

Anyway, Happy Anniversary AmberLee17! I hope that this book finds itself in the hands of many happy readers.

This went out today, OCTOBER 21, 2003, to wandeca. Enjoy!

Just received the book in the mail. Thanks mellion108, for sharing. And congratulations AmberLee17. :-) I'm going to try to read this book within the next couple weeks.

It doens't matter how many times I read this novel, I always end up with the same emotions. A little scared of Mrs Danvers, hoping that Maxim and "the girl" end up happy and that Rebecca was one evil witch! Now if I can only get a copy of Hitchcock's masterpiece.

Thanks for organizing this bookray, mellion108!

I've read at least thirty different versions/prints of this book and have never seen this cover! I'll start on this today and will journal again when I'm finished (although, I could tell you now what I think of it!). Thanks wandeca and mellion108!

This is one of only two books my mother recommended I read that I actually enjoyed — so much that it’s become my favorite story.

Daphne du Maurier’s characters got my attention, and her beautiful imagery kept me rapt. And it’s not just that famous opening line, either; the ending is just as beautifully written, but receives much less attention. Her subtle hinting throughout the book is well done (especially in that last chapter), though you can’t really appreciate its significance until you’ve finished reading (all the more reason to start it over again!).

Our unnamed heroine, the second Mrs. de Winter, was always hard for me to like. I didn’t not like her, as was the case with Rebecca, but I’m shocked at just how shy and spineless this girl is. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s fought off irrational bouts of paranoia or fantasy, but hers are so extreme! But I guess that’s typical of the character.

Our leading lady is the opposite of Rebecca in most respects — shy, quiet, scared — but I’ve often played out one particular scene, which is more temper-tantrum than timidity, in my head: I envision her throwing a Cindy Brady-like fit (“It’s always Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca!” she tells Frank Crawley) while walking up the drive to Manderley (something I certainly couldn’t imagine Rebecca doing). And, now that I know the BBC2 has made a movie of it, I’ll have to search the library and local video stores to see if Joanna David does as good a job at this scene as the actress in my imagination!

Mailed this morning to Kernow8, the next participant in this bookray. Hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us!

(Many thanks, AmberLee17, for registering the book and to mellion108 for starting the bookray!)

I just had a very exciting UPS delivery! I was expecting it to be a shipment of toys from Amazon for our children - it's that time of year - but it was a book for me!

Unlike the previous journallers, I've never read this book so I am looking forward to it immensely. I used to go to Cornwall a lot on vacation with my parents and our route always took us past a place called Jamaica Inn (see picture). Ever since then I've been meaning to read a du Maurier book. This seems like as good a place to start as any.

I've put this into my reading plan - will be able to get it moved on in 3-4 weeks. Hope that's OK!

Update 1/1/04 - started reading today! My first book of 2004...

This was a beautifully written book - I don't think it'll be my last du Maurier! The descriptions of the West Country were delightful and I could almost smell the Happy Valley. The rigid routine of Manderley, with butlers and footmen interrupting the most intimate moments because it was time for tea, reminded me of "The Manor House" a British-made period reality show broadcast recently on public TV out here.

For me the most interesting part of the story was its challenging ethics. The characters are created such that I did end up with my sympathies lying with Maxim and the girl, as Wandeca said, but then this little voice in me reminds me of the indisputable facts which we learn by the end. That'll keep me thinking for a while!

The photo here is of Polridmouth cove, on the Menabilly estate near Fowey in Corwall, which according to an article I found in the London Times Online, was du Maurier's inspiration for Manderley (Menabilly) and Kerrith (Fowey). Polridmouth was the location of the fisherman's cottage...

Now in the mail to tootshelling. Thanks everyone!

Received this in the mail yesterday. It will be added to my list of bookrings. I've got a few but I'm wizzing through quickly. I'll journal again later.

Thanks for sharing and Happy Anniversary!!

Ok, I've had this way too long, I'm sorry! I'm passing it on to the next person because I'm not done reading it AND my book club just picked it for this month's read (actually, I picked it so it would force me to read it and not have another book on my plate!). I'm going to purchase a copy to keep for my book club and pass this one on.

Thanks for sharing, sorry I had it so long!

Just received today! will read, journal again and pass on! Thanks for the ray Mellion108!

7/18/04 update: I'm about halfway through and plan on sending it on this week sometime. Will journal again with my thoughts and confirm of sending.

Very interesting! It almost read like two different books to me, the first part where we believe Rebecca must have been a saint, and then the second part where we learn the truth of what happened. A VERY clear turning point of the story. I found myself actually forgetting that we never learned her name because you just felt that you were her, and the name wasn't necessary. You could just feel the discomfort she experienced so much of the time before we learned the truth. And that awful Mrs. Danvers! I certainly wouldn't have felt safe with her in the house! I would be interested in seeing the television show of it if I ever run across it!

Thank you for this ray, I doubt I would have picked this one up on my own! I'm still waiting to hear from nillabreen. I'll give it a few more days, and then off to caligula03 if I don't get a response.

Thanks again!

I picked up this book to start reading it last night, and I realized I had never journaled it! Sorry about that... It arrived about a week ago, safe and sound. I'm looking forward to getting into this one. Thank you!

I had never read Rebecca before. It's fantastic. The author builds and builds on a sense of creepiness. Uncertainty about identity and other people's beliefs is accentuated by the fact that the main character doesn't have a name. It was so fantastic when the girl was sitting at Rebecca's desk, thinking about how all of this had been Rebecca's, and then Mrs.Danvers called on the house phone and the girl said "I'm sorry, Mrs. de Winter is dead."

Caligula03 asked to be skipped, and so the book is on the way to DianeO.

Received today - thanks! An absolute classic that I haven't read for more than 20 years! Hope to start soon and relive this beautiful story.

Sorry for the delay. I decided that this would be ideal holiday reading, and therefore, it's been all the way to Tobago and back!
Well, it was just as enjoyable as I remembered - an excellent book, gripping and exciting throughout.
Thanks for sharing!

Released on Tuesday, November 09, 2004 at about 9:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Postal Release in Chesterfield, England United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

On it's way to Malaysia.

It's possible that this book may eventually make its way to Malaysia, but it seems to be taking quite a long time. I fear that the book has been lost in transit, but I hope that it finds a good home.

Thanks to all who participated in the bookray!