Audiobook Review: Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

Narrator: Anna Massey
Publish date: audio 2014; novel 1938
Source: audiobooksync.com
Length: 14 hours 48 minutes
"The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave."

I had actually never even heard of this book until recently when I saw someone on Twitter mention liking it. I looked into it, added it to my TBR, and promptly forgot about it. When I saw that it was one of Audiobook Sync's free audiobooks for this summer, I got excited, remembering that I wanted to read it. I ended up loving it much more than I expected!

Basically Rebecca is about an unnamed woman who marries Maxim de Winter, a widower who lives in this amazing house and property called Manderley. The main character works as a lady's maid and kind of swept off her feet by Maxim and moves with him right away to Manderley. Once there, however, she discovers that Maxim's late wife's presence is still controlling everything at the house as the new Mrs. de Winter learns more about Rebecca.

Rebecca is an odd, but very good, book. It's really confusing at the beginning and the story itself doesn't start making sense until about chapter 4. Everything at Manderley is so mysterious and the whole time I just wanted to know more about Rebecca, Maxim's first wife. Why does everyone love her so much? Why does she seem to still have a hold on the house and the staff? These questions DO get answers and at one point while listening, I even said, "oh my god!" I do not normally react like that to books, so that should tell you something!

As an audiobook, this was excellent. The narrator, Anna Massey, was great and I think her voice added a lot to the tone of the book. Very mysterious, but naive at the same time when she was voicing the new Mrs. de Winter's thoughts. I'm glad I read this via audio and would highly recommend this format if you are thinking about reading it.

A final thought: If you've read Rebecca, what are your thoughts on Mrs. de Winter never having a first name?