Fiction Reviews: Rebecca

In Monte Carlo, we meet a young woman working as a paid companion to Mrs. Van Hopper; she serves as the story's narrator. Through her eyes, we meet Maxim de Winter, a wealthy 42-year-old widower, and follow their whirlwind romance after he proposes to her. Following their honeymoon, the setting shifts to Manderley, a luxury estate in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

The most prominent character the narrator encounters is Mrs. Dnvers, the housekeeper, who appears cold and distantly polite. A sharp contrast exists between the two women: the new Mrs. de Winter feels that her presence is a threat to the established order of the house, which remains a shrine to the memory of Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca.

During a costume ball, the housekeeper suggests the young wife wear a specific beautiful dress, but she maliciously withholds the fact that Rebecca wore the exact same gown shortly before her death. In another hostile moment, Mrs. Danvers nearly goads the girl into jumping from a window, simply because she can never replace Rebecca.

Following a shipwreck, Maxim and his second wife meet in a stone cottage where he confesses to her that he killed Rebecca. He reveals his constant fear that her body would one day be brought to the surface. Maxim is eventually accused of homicide and must stand trial, though he is ultimately found not guilty. However, as they return home, they find Manderley in flames, and Mrs. Danvers has disappeared.