Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

"I had not realized how closely the trees grew together here, their roots stretching across the paths like tendrils ready to trip one. They ought to clear all this, I thought as I ran, catching my breath. Maxim should get the men on to it. There is not sense or beauty to this undergrowth. That tangle of shrubs there should be cut down to bring light to the path. It was dark, much too dark."

I'm a little bit better read today than I was yesterday! Why? Because I finally read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the 1% Well Read Challenge. Well and also because I was wanting to read it for like, ever.

I loved it! I loved it so much that I essentially read it in one sitting. But that doesn't tell you much, really, does it?

Rebecca is the story of an unnamed girl...really her name is not Rebecca. Rebecca is the sort of ghost that haunts the whole story and everyone's life and screws everything all up. Anyway, unnamed girl marries a man old enough to be her father after knowing him for just a few short weeks, and he whisks her off to Manderley, his big huge elegant estate. She loves it, but she's pretty darned convinced of two things: 1) Maxim (the husband) is still in love with his dead wife and 2) Rebecca (the dead wife) was perfect.

Really, this book is quite masterful in sweeping you up into the emotions of the protagonist. As surely as she can, we can feel the spirit of Rebecca haunting everyone's lives. I don't mean that in a literal sense, there is no actual ghost, it's the memory of her that is so strong. It's hard not to feel unnamed girl's jealousy, her desperation, her insecurity. Even so, though, we are given enough to know that maybe not everything is as it seems. Fragments of truth shine through the self-deception that has so masked unnamed girl's eyes.

Anyway, I loved the book! It's a delightful exploration of self, perception, and truth. It's beautifully written and though once or twice it felt too long, I felt such affection for the characters, that I didn't mind. If you are lucky enough to have fall in your area or rainy days it's the absolute perfect book for that kind of weather!

Rating: 4.5/5
Source of Book: Bought at the bargain shop!

1% Well Read Challenge

So, um, yeah. I didn't finish this challenge, like, at all the first time!! So I'm going to keep almost my exact same list, since I actually did buy most of the books. The one I will change is North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (I tried ordering it and it never came) for Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I am going to work off the combined lists this time, to read a total of thirten titles, but I'll decide those other three at a later date.

Here's my list as of now:
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
England Made Me by Graham Greene.
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Be sure to visit the sign up page and join in the fun!