"Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier

I read the book "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier a few years ago and even listened to it on tape. This book is very interesting because you never find out the name of the narrator who is the main character of the story - she is referred to as the 2nd Mrs. De Winter but you never learn her first name. Rebecca is the deceased first wife of the 2nd Mrs. De Winter's husband, Maxim. Her name pervades the thoughts of story and of Manderley, the estate owned by Maxim De Winter. This book was one of the earliest and most popular ghost stories to come out of England (written in 1938), although there are not really any "ghosts" per se, but you feel a presence of two who are very jealous of the 2nd Mrs. De Winter; the deceased Rebecca and the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who was overly fond of Rebecca.

Check out the plot in detail and other info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_(novel)

Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie "Rebecca" in 1940 which won the Best Picture at the Oscar's that year. If you can get a hold of a copy of the movie I highly recommend it. The cinematography is beautiful. It stars Joan Fontaine as the 2nd Mrs. De Winter.
One reason that I bring this book up is that last week I ordered a newer made-for-TV version (by the BBC) that was made in 1997. It stars Charles Dance and Emilia Fox. I wasn't so crazy about Charles Dance as Maxim (he looks way too old for the part and his face looks like leather) but further into the movie I liked him a little better. It was pretty good (I'll give it three starts) - it had a very light and fresh feel to it. The costumes were fun to see (the movie version is set in the year 1927). It is three hours long; broken into two 1 1/2 hour segments. (Just as a note, Peter could not stand it. He lasted about 45 minutes, but then we don't all have good taste in movies and books).

I was excited to read (and it may just be a rumor; I couldn't find anything too exclusive about it) that a new movie version of "Rebecca" is in production, starring Ralph Fiennes as Maxim De Winter. Peter will be so excited to be dragged to the movie theater with me to see it!