Most love stories as we know them, have your typical storyline boy meets girls, they fall in love and live happily ever after. The author, Daphne Du Maurier, of this mystery romance, Rebecca, had a similar tone to that of Shakespeare’s Othello, in mind when writing the story of a complex love that was the target of a villainous character looking to end the relationship only with a few differences along the way. It is a bittersweet story that takes place in the 19th century around the Cornish Coast and deals with the ups and downs of life for the unknown narrator and her much older husband, the owner of Manderly, Maxim De Winter. The story has a strong character line up some who’s identity have been with withheld until further through the book. The heroin also the narrator, Mrs. De Winter as she is known throughout the book, is a self conscious young woman who never seems to let go of the idea that she will never be as good as the first wife Rebecca. The story revolves around her and the trials and tribulations she endured at her stay at the Manderley. Mrs. Van Hooper, the rich older American woman whom the narrator was her travel companion and allowed her the travel experience where she met Maxim De Winter. Her husband, Maxim De Winter, the older gentlemen who swept her off her feet and gave her the life she so desperately sought out, who tries to make her understand that she is what he is really looking for and loves but seems to grow tired of the endless reminder that was his first wife. Beatrice, Maxim’s sister, who tries to encourage the new bride to see past the stigma of the house and make it good for herself there and gives her the advice to not pay mind to the staff which is so devoutly stuck on Rebecca, who she states is much different than the new bride is. The villainous Ms. Danvers, the housekeeper who was strangely devoted to the late Mrs. De Winter and the cause of the heroine’s grief. Rebecca, the namesake of the story, first wife to Maxim, who’s ghost seems to “save” Mrs. De Winter at times and remains at the house as a ghost with a past that made her different from the ideal wife she was made out to be. Jack Favell, the lover taken on by Rebecca during her marriage to Maxim who is also her cousin. Frank Crawley, the overseer of the estate and close confidant who seems to be the only one to befriend the heroine. There is a great deal of foreshadowing scattered throughout and plenty of areas to draw conclusive ideas about what could easily be the outcome. The story begins with her remembering when she first met her husband, it is written from the viewpoint of the narrator’s flashbacks, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” (pg 1) those words come from a dream that the narrator has to open the story with. She and her husband, Mr. De Winter, are told to have been traveling staying at various hotels and staying out of the eye of the public as much as possible. She continues with the reminiscence of the ever great Manderley and details emerge of what life was like for her there, the prepared meals, the staff and how things could have been different. Her many fond memories attached to the great estate which forever changed her life in both the good and the bad, the secrets that the house kept, only to be revealed later on. As a travel companion for her employer, Mrs. Van Hooper, with whom she has traveled throughout Europe with, she is introduced to Mr. De Winter at the hotel Cote d’Azur. Mrs. Van Hooper comments on the appearance of Mr. De Winter and attributes it to the loss of the previous Mrs. De Winter who passed away the year before. He did not take an immediate liking to the company at first as expressed through his rudeness that morning of the meeting with Mrs. Van Hooper which he did apologize for later through the correspondence. The next day she finds that Mrs. Van Hooper has grown ill and must cancel the days plans for her and proceeds on to enjoy the day alone. She decides to have an early lunch as no one would usually be around to see her. She notices that Mr. De Winter was seated next to her in the dining room and proceeds to join him for lunch. Lunch goes smoothly and soon turns to spending the rest of the evening with him as he takes her for a car ride. They continue to see each other without Mrs. Van Hooper’s knowledge, as she assumes there are tennis lessons being taken. After only a few weeks of courting and getting to know one another, the lonely widowed Mr. De Winter proposes marriage to the girl on the day she is set to depart to New York with Mrs. Van Hooper and she accepts. After the marriage, he returns the Manderley Estate with the new wife in tow, only to fund that soon after it seems to set off the rollercoaster ride of events leading to some discoveries. Events that occurred when she arrived were the finding that the house is haunted, which turns out to be the first wife, Rebecca, who had killed herself in the nearby waters of the estate and the devoted housekeeper, Ms. Danvers, who is at the root of the problems with the new Mrs. De Winter, which shows no remorse for the dislike she shows to the new bride. Once they arrive at the estate, they are greeted by the staff which seems to intimidate the young narrator, to the pleasure of Ms. Danvers who setup the greeting in spite of the request by Maxim not to. They are seated in the library for tea and while Maxim is catching up on the mail, Mrs. De Winters is escorted to the new wing where they will be staying, which is said to be a more cheerful side of the house, the side that doesn’t face the ocean. After being shown to her room and assured by Ms. Danvers that the sea was almost nonexistent on that side, seemed to sparked an interesting feeling of curiosity or even a spook in Mrs. De Winter. “You can’t see the sea from here then?” “No, not from this wing, you can’t even hear it either. You would not know the sea was anywhere near, not from this wing.” (ch 7,pg 71) As time passes the tension in the house does not seem to fade, in fact she feels as if the staff of the house laughs at her behind her back in the beginning when she would get lost wandering the halls of the house and no one would aid her. She begins to feel as though she is inferior to the memory of Rebecca as evidenced by the treatment being received especially that from Ms. Danvers. The visit from Maxim’s sister Beatrice and her husband Giles, made her feel awkward, almost on display at first. She then warmed up to them and listened as Beatrice advised her to take on a life of her own and find a hobby or pastime and to take up for herself against the staff whom she specifically stated some had an admiration for the first Mrs. De Winter. Many events unfold from there with their first fight after a walk down to the sea, the information received from Frank Crawley pertaining to the death of Rebecca, her continued feelings of being out of place there and her fear that the marriage could fail. The visit with Beatrice to see Gran, which goes wrong while Maxim is away. The visit to the west wing from Jack Favell, whose identity gets revealed to Mrs. De Winter by Beatrice. The costume ball which traditionally occurred when Rebecca was alive and which Ms. Danvers plans a scheme against the new Mrs. De Winter to have her make her first appearance as Mrs. De Winter in the same gown that Rebecca wore to embarrass her, letting Maxim believe that she did it on purpose to hurt him. On her quest in which she believes that she is no longer loved by Maxim, it begins to unfold the further truths about the house and the death of Rebecca leading to the surprise ending that I was not expecting. The truth of her death being exposed that he in fact killed Rebecca due to her indiscretions and claims that she would raise the love child she was carrying to be brought up as Maxim’s, which turned out to be the last straw for him that broke him and made him kill her. Even though the marriage was a complete lie, he would not be faced with having an heir to the estate that was not rightfully his. With this new revelation, the heroine begins to assert her title as the Mistress of the house and starts to make changes as they prepare for the company of Colonel Julyan who has questions about the body that was identified by Maxim as Rebecca. This soon turns into a frenzy of old feeling that Jack Favell kept hidden and threatens to report unless he gets paid to keep quiet. Blackmail ensues and new truths are revealed by Jack that no one knew, insisting that there was no way she would have wanted to commit suicide because they were lovers and asked to meet him that night at the boathouse to tell him something. Implying that it must have been murder committed by Maxim out of jealousy. Information was sought from a doctor that Rebecca went to see which Maxim and his wife assume that they would in fact prove she was pregnant but instead learn that she was ill and could not have children thus giving her a motive for suicide and closing the suspicion that furiously surrounded the town. To this end, Mr. and Mrs. Danvers leave Manderley for what they thought to be a vacation to let the gossip die down, but soon get a call that Ms. Danvers is gone and can’t be found so they return only to realize that they need to have a life a new life where they can begin together anew away from Manderley. To get to the end was a bit of a struggle but excitedly surprised at the twisted almost sad ending. I would recommend that anyone who is a fan of romance novels not the sappy kind but one with substance and a happy ending take the time to engage themselves into this book and to be patient through the dragging on of the first few chapters to get through to the meat and bones of the story.