Status
Available
Description
On the twentieth anniversary of the death of Rebecca, the hauntingly beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter, family friend Colonel Julyan receives an anonymous parcel. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the title page -- Rebecca's Tale -- and two pictures: a photograph of Rebecca as a young child and a postcard of Manderley. Rebecca once asked Julyan to ensure she was buried in the churchyard facing the sea: if she ended up in the de Winter crypt, she warned, she'd come back to haunt him. Now, it seems, she has finally kept her promise. Julyan's conscience has never been clear over the official version of Rebecca's death. Was Rebecca the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed. Or the gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others had suggested. The official story, the 'truth', has only had Maxim's version of events to consider. But all that is about to change . . .… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member JohnGrant1
Reading Wide Sargasso Sea reminded me that years ago I'd bought a copy of Beauman's novel — which in effect gives the other side of the story about Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. Although chastened by the Rhys book, I plunged in anyway.
The novel has four narrators: Colonel Julyan, who was Maxim de
It's something of a problem that the first narrator we encounter is Colonel Julyan. He's portrayed as a somewhat irascible, rather likable, slightly devious but in all truth pretty boring old fart — which is absolutely fine and dandy so far as Beauman's tale is concerned, but not for the poor reader who has to spend the first hundred pages or so in Colonel Julyan's company. It was here that I felt my training, as it were, with Wide Sargasso Sea came in especially useful, because I plowed on nevertheless.
And I'm extremely glad I did so. By the end of this longish book about three days later I was quite literally breathless. The unraveling of the mystery surrounding Rebecca — in her life as much as her death — makes absorbing reading, and the last quarter of the book is all the more compulsively readable because one spends it in the company of Julyan's daughter Ellie, easily the most attractive and sympathetic of the four narrators. Jolly good stuff.
The novel has four narrators: Colonel Julyan, who was Maxim de
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Winter's old pal and who was keen not to raise too many questions about Rebecca's death; a young scholar who's come to snoop around Manderley for reasons of his own; Rebecca herself in a discovered diary from twenty years earlier; and Colonel Julyan's daughter Ellie.It's something of a problem that the first narrator we encounter is Colonel Julyan. He's portrayed as a somewhat irascible, rather likable, slightly devious but in all truth pretty boring old fart — which is absolutely fine and dandy so far as Beauman's tale is concerned, but not for the poor reader who has to spend the first hundred pages or so in Colonel Julyan's company. It was here that I felt my training, as it were, with Wide Sargasso Sea came in especially useful, because I plowed on nevertheless.
And I'm extremely glad I did so. By the end of this longish book about three days later I was quite literally breathless. The unraveling of the mystery surrounding Rebecca — in her life as much as her death — makes absorbing reading, and the last quarter of the book is all the more compulsively readable because one spends it in the company of Julyan's daughter Ellie, easily the most attractive and sympathetic of the four narrators. Jolly good stuff.
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LibraryThing member Bookmarque
Well at first this was very interesting, and then it got sort of tedious. I liked the Colonel Julyan parts – he’s a crusty old guy and was actually part of the whole mystery. He was deeply smitten by Rebecca, but I don’t think he ever really knew her. He just had illusions of her like
I remember feeling extreme dislike for Rebecca after I first read the book. What an awful, scheming liar I thought she was. This book doesn’t alter that. If anything, I dislike her more for reading her diary. She was childish and spiteful and had a grasping quality that came out in full force in her writing. Nice to know that the 2nd Mrs. De Winter was right about her.
The diary itself is written to an unborn child she believed herself to be carrying. The thing leaves off on the day she goes to the doctor and finds out that she isn’t pregnant, but mortally ill. The beginning of the next diary is completely blank except for one torn page that bears the date and the word Max. Colonel J’s sister suspects Maxim of doing this, but that makes no sense. If he killed Rebecca and saw the diary, why would he have left just his name? No, I think Rebecca tore it herself and then taunted Max into shooting her.
It was kind of fun catching up with some of the old characters like cousin Favel. He continued in his wastrel type existence. And Mrs. Danvers! I always thought of her as dead. Instead we find her living in Rebecca’s old rooms in London, half starved and completely mad, waiting for Rebecca. The 2nd Mrs. De Winter also makes an appearance but she seems to have gotten worse instead of better. She is gauche and unsure of herself. I find it hard to believe she didn’t grow and mature during her life with Max. I didn’t like to see her that way.
The character Terrence Grey/Tom Galbraith was weird too. He’s searching for his parents. He knows when and where the orphanage took him in and it turns out that he is Rebecca’s half-brother. Rebecca’s mother died of an infection after giving birth to him and because she was unmarried at the time, Mrs. Danvers gave up the baby. It was a bit too coincidental.
The story of Ellie, Colonel Julyan’s daughter was also weird. Why she was thrown into this story, I don’t know. I guess it was to hammer home the idea of women’s independence. She ends up alone – her father dead and Tom turning out to be gay. She goes back to school instead of accepting a man’s proposal of marriage. She was 31 and just finished being a daughter and wasn’t ready to be a wife. I understand her feelings but I don’t think she was integral to the story. The whole discovery of Mrs. Danvers could have been done with Tom. She seemed superfluous and forced into the story.
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everyone else.I remember feeling extreme dislike for Rebecca after I first read the book. What an awful, scheming liar I thought she was. This book doesn’t alter that. If anything, I dislike her more for reading her diary. She was childish and spiteful and had a grasping quality that came out in full force in her writing. Nice to know that the 2nd Mrs. De Winter was right about her.
The diary itself is written to an unborn child she believed herself to be carrying. The thing leaves off on the day she goes to the doctor and finds out that she isn’t pregnant, but mortally ill. The beginning of the next diary is completely blank except for one torn page that bears the date and the word Max. Colonel J’s sister suspects Maxim of doing this, but that makes no sense. If he killed Rebecca and saw the diary, why would he have left just his name? No, I think Rebecca tore it herself and then taunted Max into shooting her.
It was kind of fun catching up with some of the old characters like cousin Favel. He continued in his wastrel type existence. And Mrs. Danvers! I always thought of her as dead. Instead we find her living in Rebecca’s old rooms in London, half starved and completely mad, waiting for Rebecca. The 2nd Mrs. De Winter also makes an appearance but she seems to have gotten worse instead of better. She is gauche and unsure of herself. I find it hard to believe she didn’t grow and mature during her life with Max. I didn’t like to see her that way.
The character Terrence Grey/Tom Galbraith was weird too. He’s searching for his parents. He knows when and where the orphanage took him in and it turns out that he is Rebecca’s half-brother. Rebecca’s mother died of an infection after giving birth to him and because she was unmarried at the time, Mrs. Danvers gave up the baby. It was a bit too coincidental.
The story of Ellie, Colonel Julyan’s daughter was also weird. Why she was thrown into this story, I don’t know. I guess it was to hammer home the idea of women’s independence. She ends up alone – her father dead and Tom turning out to be gay. She goes back to school instead of accepting a man’s proposal of marriage. She was 31 and just finished being a daughter and wasn’t ready to be a wife. I understand her feelings but I don’t think she was integral to the story. The whole discovery of Mrs. Danvers could have been done with Tom. She seemed superfluous and forced into the story.
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LibraryThing member nossanna
I am a big fan of Daphne du Maurier, especially Rebecca, so just had to pick this up and read. This follow-on to Rebecca occurs about 20 years after her death, wrapping stories up, creating more intrigue, and providing back story. I think Beauman did a superb job and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
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Her writing style was sufficiently similar to create a good tone to flow from Rebecca. We can all quibble about what should have happened, or what the story should have been, and alternate scenarios are certainly possible, but this is her take on it and it works as well as any other could. Her attention to the original story and it's details plausibly tie up Rebecca very well. Show Less
LibraryThing member Claire.Warner
Rebecca was a wonderfully, haunting gothic tale. Rebecca's tale is not. It's not even a decent detective story. Rebecca is a vivid character, a character that colours the lives of everyone in the original work, you are left to wonder at her. She is accomplished, beautiful and everyone desires her,
However, Miss Beauman decides that clearly Rebecca is a modern heroine who must be praised for cuckolding her husband. After all she was being emotionally oppressed by the man apparently so everything her character does is justified. It is a very modern approach to the character and pushed so throroughly that we have to hate the timid original narrator. Indeed when Mrs De Winter appears, she does not seem to have aged, in fact, she seems as dreamy and timid as from the first book.
Rebecca's Tale does not give us a true picture of Rebecca, it gives us a rosy, sympathetic view. She is portrayed as this ultimate feminist, obviously wonderful because she doesn't settle into a 'wifely' role and perfectly entitled to cheat on her husband, because he doesn't stoke her fire enough. Rebecca in the original is ambivalent, she's a strong woman, yet deceitful; accomplished yet her likeability is a façade, she is a bright star that burns. Her truth can be seen through many of the characters in Rebecca, not just Max. Mrs Danvers confirms that she hates the men in her life and that she slept around, that Maxim was tricked into marriage. Yes Rebecca is a vivid character, yet this obsession to turn her into a modern heroine who is railing against traditional constraints is terrible and doesn't work.
Maxim is also terribly dealt with, once again, the depths of the character are ignored and Miss Beauman focuses on the 'evilness' of being a man unwilling to endure scandal. Maxim always struck me as a troubled character, one driven to the ultimate act of revenge, struck by guilt and his attention to duty. Yet Max De Winter is ignobly killed off.
I found Rebecca's tale unsatisfying as it seemed determined to push modern attitudes on the main characters and ignoring the many facets of the original cast. There was a determination to push Rebecca as a victim of terrible men and really, there was more to the character than that.
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yet.. It is made clear in the original story that she is manipulative, a liar and she had numerous affairs (confirmed by Flavell and Danvers).However, Miss Beauman decides that clearly Rebecca is a modern heroine who must be praised for cuckolding her husband. After all she was being emotionally oppressed by the man apparently so everything her character does is justified. It is a very modern approach to the character and pushed so throroughly that we have to hate the timid original narrator. Indeed when Mrs De Winter appears, she does not seem to have aged, in fact, she seems as dreamy and timid as from the first book.
Rebecca's Tale does not give us a true picture of Rebecca, it gives us a rosy, sympathetic view. She is portrayed as this ultimate feminist, obviously wonderful because she doesn't settle into a 'wifely' role and perfectly entitled to cheat on her husband, because he doesn't stoke her fire enough. Rebecca in the original is ambivalent, she's a strong woman, yet deceitful; accomplished yet her likeability is a façade, she is a bright star that burns. Her truth can be seen through many of the characters in Rebecca, not just Max. Mrs Danvers confirms that she hates the men in her life and that she slept around, that Maxim was tricked into marriage. Yes Rebecca is a vivid character, yet this obsession to turn her into a modern heroine who is railing against traditional constraints is terrible and doesn't work.
Maxim is also terribly dealt with, once again, the depths of the character are ignored and Miss Beauman focuses on the 'evilness' of being a man unwilling to endure scandal. Maxim always struck me as a troubled character, one driven to the ultimate act of revenge, struck by guilt and his attention to duty. Yet Max De Winter is ignobly killed off.
I found Rebecca's tale unsatisfying as it seemed determined to push modern attitudes on the main characters and ignoring the many facets of the original cast. There was a determination to push Rebecca as a victim of terrible men and really, there was more to the character than that.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Dreadful. Re-read DuMaurier's original, and use your own imagination. Beauman drains the shadowy anti-heroine of all mystery and spirit, rewriting her as misunderstood and abused, instead of dangerous and romantic; she also insists on linking every character in the original novel by a random
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process of dot-to-dot, so that Manderley becomes some incestuous tangled web. The author's 'original characters' are also very weak and cliched, and the reader cares little for them, put off by the first person narrative instead of feeling invited in to their world. Contrived, convoluted melodrama; Rebecca deserves more than this. Show Less
LibraryThing member ijustgetbored
I should first say that I'm not a diehard fan of Rebecca (though I do quite like it), so my response to Rebecca's Tale may be different from truly devoted fans of the original novel.
The novel is divided into 4 parts, each with a different narrator (I won't name them here in case that counts as a
I think what I liked most about Beauman's novel was the themes she chose to pick up and elaborate on from Rebecca: death sealed in persons (along with sterility), the life in nature, the notion of place (and breaking away from it), and a few others. Explorations of sexuality are also more explicit in this novel; even nature becomes almost overwhelmingly fecund. The novel still hovers at the question of who Rebecca was in life, but it also tries to pick apart who and what she has become in death.
I should emphasize that this is NOT a retelling of Rebecca but a "further-telling" of, perhaps, Manderly itself and the lives of all it touches. It's not a remake, and it's overall not an attempt to explain (its weakest moments are, in fact, when it DOES try to explain, and that's why I give it 4 stars, along with the fact that it can be rather obvious in its "mysteries" at some points).
Recommended, especially after rereading Rebecca.
The novel is divided into 4 parts, each with a different narrator (I won't name them here in case that counts as a
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spoiler!). Beauman does a good job of giving each character his / her own distinct voice; some writers attempt to narrate with different characters, but everyone sounds the same-- that's not the case here. Chalk one up for Beauman's style. I think what I liked most about Beauman's novel was the themes she chose to pick up and elaborate on from Rebecca: death sealed in persons (along with sterility), the life in nature, the notion of place (and breaking away from it), and a few others. Explorations of sexuality are also more explicit in this novel; even nature becomes almost overwhelmingly fecund. The novel still hovers at the question of who Rebecca was in life, but it also tries to pick apart who and what she has become in death.
I should emphasize that this is NOT a retelling of Rebecca but a "further-telling" of, perhaps, Manderly itself and the lives of all it touches. It's not a remake, and it's overall not an attempt to explain (its weakest moments are, in fact, when it DOES try to explain, and that's why I give it 4 stars, along with the fact that it can be rather obvious in its "mysteries" at some points).
Recommended, especially after rereading Rebecca.
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LibraryThing member Storm_Constantine
I’ve recently read the three novels that are continuations or, or inspired by, Daphne Du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’. Of the three – ‘The Other Rebecca’ by Maureen Freely, ‘Mrs De Winter’ by Susan Hill and ‘Rebecca’s Tale’ by Sally Beaumann, the first prize must go to Beaumann. She
I was surprised – and pleased – to find ‘Rebecca’s Tale’ keeps to the ‘canon’ found in Hill’s ‘Mrs De Winter’ – i.e. what happened to the De Winters when they returned to England, or at least as much of that as Julyan and other major characters can possibly know – which is only the bare facts. Still, this novel carries on neatly from Hill’s, (and was written afterwards), and it seems to me that Beaumann must have known of that book and kept to the same story. Or the similarities are just uncanny coincidences…
Part Two of the story is told by Terence Grey, the writer who’s in Kerrith investigating the story of Rebecca. Grey is a complex character, with secrets and tragedies of his own. His interest in the old story lurches towards obsession, dangerously so. Through Grey we meet some of the other characters from ‘Rebecca’ and hear their version of events – such as the cousin Jack Favell, Frith the erstwhile butler of Manderley, and other colourful Kerrith characters. The truth about Rebecca, it seems, is more convoluted than everyone thought. Her own history is revealed in tantalizing glimpses – the girl she’d once been and the woman she became who was mistress of Manderley. The reader begins to learn about her heritage. While Grey investigates, an anonymous individual is sending notebooks of Rebecca’s to Colonel Julyan, and is also perhaps the same person who leaves a wreath at Rebecca’s old boathouse cottage, and sends a piece of her jewellery to Favell. Mysteries mount, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
Part three is Rebecca’s own tale, as found in the second notebook sent to Julyan. But we know already that Rebecca is often a minx. Is her testimony reliable? Whether this is true or not, it’s riveting to read. A free spirit, Rebecca was born ahead of her time, totally unsuited to a woman’s life in the early part of the 20th century. She suffered for her difference, as she was rarely understood. And the tragic way she narrates her story to an unborn child she believes she is carrying is moving while being unsentimental. Naturally, Rebecca’s tale is cut short by her own death. Many threads are left dangling.
Part four is related by Ellie, Colonel Julyan’s daughter. Hers is a strong, true voice, but even she has her obsession with Rebecca, seeing in the dead woman a promising template for female emancipation at a time in history when women were fighting for their rights, and most men still regarded them as mistresses, mothers or domestics. Ellie’s is undoubtedly the most political account, but she is also a vibrant, convincing character with her own desires and dreams. Ellie uncovers more mysteries, and in one case solves one, while simultaneously growing as a person. During her account, the narrative never falters. All four narrators, each with their distinctive voice, carry the story along at a good pace, but it is still deep and ponderous – and I don’t mean that in a bad way. This is not a short or shallow book by any means.
Most, but not all, of the threads finally weave together and the reader is left to make up their own mind. You don’t feel in any way short-changed by that, though. What Beaumann has done is create a convincing account, including the difficulty of discovering historical truths, when the main protagonists are dead. Some truth died with them. Rebecca affected everyone she met, often dramatically. She is perhaps all the things everyone ever thought her to be, and more, a girl who fought to survive throughout a difficult childhood and adolescence, who set her will at making an adult life for herself, to her liking. But she is always human, believable. Her gift to Ellie is revealed at the end of book, perhaps far different from what you expect all the way through. I loved that. My favourite book of those I’ve read over the past few years is ‘The Little Stranger’ by Sarah Waters, but Sally Beaumann’s ‘Rebecca’s Tale’ will now be stored on the same shelf.
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keeps the voice of the original well, in terms of time and place, but the first narrator, in a novel of four parts, is the aged Colonel Julyan, who presided over Rebecca’s inquest. He’s always had his suspicions about what truly happened, but the mistake that Favell made, and perhaps readers too, is that he didn’t keep his suspicions quiet in order to protect Maxim and his family name, as was implied. He kept his silence in order to protect Rebecca, as he’d been very fond of her. The novel starts with him reminiscing over the past, because an upstart author wants to write yet another book about the Manderley mystery, which has become folklore in its part of the world. Julyan recollects his long relationship with the De Winter family, and I loved his description of being a boy, playing at the great old house. His portraits of the terrifying De Winter matriarch, (Maxim’s grandmother), the kind but wilting Virginia (his mother) and her glorious sisters, and of Bea and Maxim as children, are wonderful. The story draws you right in from the start because what happened to Rebecca was wholly tied up with the way the De Winters were, an ancient family going back eight hundred years. There’s more than a whiff of authors like P G Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh, in the light, acerbic wit of the writing. This is nowhere near a ‘women’s romantic novel’ as I'd mistakenly believed.I was surprised – and pleased – to find ‘Rebecca’s Tale’ keeps to the ‘canon’ found in Hill’s ‘Mrs De Winter’ – i.e. what happened to the De Winters when they returned to England, or at least as much of that as Julyan and other major characters can possibly know – which is only the bare facts. Still, this novel carries on neatly from Hill’s, (and was written afterwards), and it seems to me that Beaumann must have known of that book and kept to the same story. Or the similarities are just uncanny coincidences…
Part Two of the story is told by Terence Grey, the writer who’s in Kerrith investigating the story of Rebecca. Grey is a complex character, with secrets and tragedies of his own. His interest in the old story lurches towards obsession, dangerously so. Through Grey we meet some of the other characters from ‘Rebecca’ and hear their version of events – such as the cousin Jack Favell, Frith the erstwhile butler of Manderley, and other colourful Kerrith characters. The truth about Rebecca, it seems, is more convoluted than everyone thought. Her own history is revealed in tantalizing glimpses – the girl she’d once been and the woman she became who was mistress of Manderley. The reader begins to learn about her heritage. While Grey investigates, an anonymous individual is sending notebooks of Rebecca’s to Colonel Julyan, and is also perhaps the same person who leaves a wreath at Rebecca’s old boathouse cottage, and sends a piece of her jewellery to Favell. Mysteries mount, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
Part three is Rebecca’s own tale, as found in the second notebook sent to Julyan. But we know already that Rebecca is often a minx. Is her testimony reliable? Whether this is true or not, it’s riveting to read. A free spirit, Rebecca was born ahead of her time, totally unsuited to a woman’s life in the early part of the 20th century. She suffered for her difference, as she was rarely understood. And the tragic way she narrates her story to an unborn child she believes she is carrying is moving while being unsentimental. Naturally, Rebecca’s tale is cut short by her own death. Many threads are left dangling.
Part four is related by Ellie, Colonel Julyan’s daughter. Hers is a strong, true voice, but even she has her obsession with Rebecca, seeing in the dead woman a promising template for female emancipation at a time in history when women were fighting for their rights, and most men still regarded them as mistresses, mothers or domestics. Ellie’s is undoubtedly the most political account, but she is also a vibrant, convincing character with her own desires and dreams. Ellie uncovers more mysteries, and in one case solves one, while simultaneously growing as a person. During her account, the narrative never falters. All four narrators, each with their distinctive voice, carry the story along at a good pace, but it is still deep and ponderous – and I don’t mean that in a bad way. This is not a short or shallow book by any means.
Most, but not all, of the threads finally weave together and the reader is left to make up their own mind. You don’t feel in any way short-changed by that, though. What Beaumann has done is create a convincing account, including the difficulty of discovering historical truths, when the main protagonists are dead. Some truth died with them. Rebecca affected everyone she met, often dramatically. She is perhaps all the things everyone ever thought her to be, and more, a girl who fought to survive throughout a difficult childhood and adolescence, who set her will at making an adult life for herself, to her liking. But she is always human, believable. Her gift to Ellie is revealed at the end of book, perhaps far different from what you expect all the way through. I loved that. My favourite book of those I’ve read over the past few years is ‘The Little Stranger’ by Sarah Waters, but Sally Beaumann’s ‘Rebecca’s Tale’ will now be stored on the same shelf.
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LibraryThing member azroadrunner80
I had read the original "Rebecca" many years ago, and thought about rereading it before I read this, but decided I could reread it later if I needed to. I still might do that, but Ms Beauman very kindly filled me in on enough so that I could easily remember what the old story told. This time, the
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Rebecca's story was told through the eyes of 4 different people, some that lived it then and all that were recipients of the aftermath of her death all those years ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fourborne
Rebeccas's Tale is a continuation of Rebecca. It takes place years later. There are 3 people telling their versions of Rebecca and her mysterious notebooks. The 3 people lives intertwine with each others.
I read some of the other reviews. I liked this book. But I do have to admit I haven't read
I read some of the other reviews. I liked this book. But I do have to admit I haven't read
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Rebecca I've only seen the 2 versions of the movie.(My favorite being the black and white one). I had already decided that I would read Rebecca when I read this. I'll review back to see if my rating changes. Show Less
LibraryThing member brokenangelkisses
This is fascinating as a revisionist text because one desperately wants to know what really happened to Rebecca. (There are powerful hints in du Maurier's novel to suggest that Maxim simply found her too passionate, rather than a devil.) The third section of the novel is the most engaging and sad
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as Rebecca tells her own tale, but the shifts and hints never firmly reveal her fate. The fourth section then veers away from Rebecca to deepen the feminist reading and, ultimately, destroy the romance and mystery: a great shame. Show Less
LibraryThing member melaniehope
I never read Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, but have watched the movie and loved the story. I think this author did a great job. The story read like a classic old novel full of dark secrets and mysteries. A woman, newly married, must learn to how to run her husband's estate, but there are those who
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may not want her there. Great story! Show Less
LibraryThing member John_Warner
At the end of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Manderley is ablaze and the new Mrs. Maxim de Winter is unsure whether the previous mistress of Manderley died of suicide or was murdered. In Sally Bauman's, gothic novel it is now twenty years later and this novel is told through four voices: Col. Arthur
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Julyan, a friend of Maxim; Ellie, Arthur's devoted daughter; Terry Gray, a local historian, and Rebecca herself through her diaries. As the first three re-investigate Rebecca's diaries and the events surrounding Rebecca's disappearance at sea and subsequent discovery, the reader obtains a better glimpse behind the woman who longed to live at Manderley along the sea as a child and possible cause of her death. If Daphne Du Maurier was still alive, she would recommend this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member im-imagined
Appalling. Completely tries to discredit Du Maurier's original vision of 'Rebecca' and a slur on a fantastic novel.
LibraryThing member Claire.Warner
Rebecca was a wonderfully, haunting gothic tale. Rebecca's tale is not. It's not even a decent detective story. Rebecca is a vivid character, a character that colours the lives of everyone in the original work, you are left to wonder at her. She is accomplished, beautiful and everyone desires her,
However, Miss Beauman decides that clearly Rebecca is a modern heroine who must be praised for cuckolding her husband. After all she was being emotionally oppressed by the man apparently so everything her character does is justified. It is a very modern approach to the character and pushed so throroughly that we have to hate the timid original narrator. Indeed when Mrs De Winter appears, she does not seem to have aged, in fact, she seems as dreamy and timid as from the first book.
Rebecca's Tale does not give us a true picture of Rebecca, it gives us a rosy, sympathetic view. She is portrayed as this ultimate feminist, obviously wonderful because she doesn't settle into a 'wifely' role and perfectly entitled to cheat on her husband, because he doesn't stoke her fire enough. Rebecca in the original is ambivalent, she's a strong woman, yet deceitful; accomplished yet her likeability is a façade, she is a bright star that burns. Her truth can be seen through many of the characters in Rebecca, not just Max. Mrs Danvers confirms that she hates the men in her life and that she slept around, that Maxim was tricked into marriage. Yes Rebecca is a vivid character, yet this obsession to turn her into a modern heroine who is railing against traditional constraints is terrible and doesn't work.
Maxim is also terribly dealt with, once again, the depths of the character are ignored and Miss Beauman focuses on the 'evilness' of being a man unwilling to endure scandal. Maxim always struck me as a troubled character, one driven to the ultimate act of revenge, struck by guilt and his attention to duty. Yet Max De Winter is ignobly killed off.
I found Rebecca's tale unsatisfying as it seemed determined to push modern attitudes on the main characters and ignoring the many facets of the original cast. There was a determination to push Rebecca as a victim of terrible men and really, there was more to the character than that.
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yet.. It is made clear in the original story that she is manipulative, a liar and she had numerous affairs (confirmed by Flavell and Danvers).However, Miss Beauman decides that clearly Rebecca is a modern heroine who must be praised for cuckolding her husband. After all she was being emotionally oppressed by the man apparently so everything her character does is justified. It is a very modern approach to the character and pushed so throroughly that we have to hate the timid original narrator. Indeed when Mrs De Winter appears, she does not seem to have aged, in fact, she seems as dreamy and timid as from the first book.
Rebecca's Tale does not give us a true picture of Rebecca, it gives us a rosy, sympathetic view. She is portrayed as this ultimate feminist, obviously wonderful because she doesn't settle into a 'wifely' role and perfectly entitled to cheat on her husband, because he doesn't stoke her fire enough. Rebecca in the original is ambivalent, she's a strong woman, yet deceitful; accomplished yet her likeability is a façade, she is a bright star that burns. Her truth can be seen through many of the characters in Rebecca, not just Max. Mrs Danvers confirms that she hates the men in her life and that she slept around, that Maxim was tricked into marriage. Yes Rebecca is a vivid character, yet this obsession to turn her into a modern heroine who is railing against traditional constraints is terrible and doesn't work.
Maxim is also terribly dealt with, once again, the depths of the character are ignored and Miss Beauman focuses on the 'evilness' of being a man unwilling to endure scandal. Maxim always struck me as a troubled character, one driven to the ultimate act of revenge, struck by guilt and his attention to duty. Yet Max De Winter is ignobly killed off.
I found Rebecca's tale unsatisfying as it seemed determined to push modern attitudes on the main characters and ignoring the many facets of the original cast. There was a determination to push Rebecca as a victim of terrible men and really, there was more to the character than that.
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LibraryThing member seasonsoflove
Everyone thinks they know Rebecca's story. But when a mysterious person starts sending Rebecca's notebooks to her old friend, the cracks in the tale begin to show.
I am automatically intrigued by a book that promises a continuation on a story I really enjoyed, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is a
Beauman puts an intriguing spin on the mystery behind what truly happened to Rebecca all those years ago, and utilizes some excellent and surprising twists to keep this an intriguing mystery.
The book feels too long. I love a good, epic tale, but Rebecca's Tale felt like it contained too much filler.
I wouldn't say drop everything and read this book, but if you liked Rebecca, I would recommend giving Rebecca's Tale a chance.
I am automatically intrigued by a book that promises a continuation on a story I really enjoyed, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is a
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great Gothic classic.Beauman puts an intriguing spin on the mystery behind what truly happened to Rebecca all those years ago, and utilizes some excellent and surprising twists to keep this an intriguing mystery.
The book feels too long. I love a good, epic tale, but Rebecca's Tale felt like it contained too much filler.
I wouldn't say drop everything and read this book, but if you liked Rebecca, I would recommend giving Rebecca's Tale a chance.
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LibraryThing member bnbookgirl
#unreadshelfproject2019. I really had high hopes for this book. I was really disappointed. It went in far to long and many of the characters were overkill. I enjoyed it when I first started it, but the more it progressed, the less interested I became. I though it was going to be a what happened
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after take that followed along with Rebecca. It was not. I should have realized that Du Maurier probably did not plan a second book and therefore Rebecca should have been left alone. I’ve come to the conclusion that authors should not mess with perfection by trying to write a sequel or prequel to a classic. Show Less
LibraryThing member kmmt48
A complicated read but excellent writing. The story is a little dry in the beginning as the author fills us in on the original story of Rebecca. The story begins to take off and soon the reader is determined to follow all the threads with the characters who are searching for the answer to Rebecca's
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death in the first novel. Very well written and quite well done! Show Less