Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is a long book. And apparently a classic turned into a Hitchcock movie (which is waiting for me on hold at the library). I enjoyed it overall. But I found it tedious at times. It was a little melodramatic, a little predictable. But that just might be the genre and writing of the time.
It definitely could have been shortened--the middle bit was much longer than it needed to be. Besides lengthy landscape descriptions, the main character often spent a lot of time imagining how things might happen (and they never do).
The main character marries the much older Maxim de Winter whose first wife, Rebecca, recently died in a suspicious manner. The second Mrs. de Winter (who is never given a first name which drove me crazy because her first name was often alluded to and one of the reasons I finished the book was to find out her first name) is haunted by the memory of beautiful, charming, perfect Rebecca. Drama and intrigue ensues.
I called it predictable even though there were some plot twists that surprised me. But if the creepy housekeeper who adored the first wife and hates you makes a "friendly" suggestion that you have a dress made to look like the one in the painting in the hall for the fancy dress ball--don't do it! It's obvious that Rebecca wore that same dress at one point.
I felt very sorry for the second Mrs. de Winter at times. She is so young and timid. Her husband tells her that he has no problem with firing the creepy housekeeper if she wants. So fire the creepy housekeeper!
I suppose my frustrations with the book show that I ultimately liked it. I would not get so frustrated with a character that I didn't care for. So if you like a "classic tale of romantic suspense," I say go for it.
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