Book club reads :: Rebecca :: Daphne du Maurier
January 24, 2018
I'm sure no one is surprised to hear that talking about books is one of my favourite things to do! And where better to get your book chat on than a book club with friends?
At the moment I'm part of two book clubs - one with some work friends who are also participating in the Read Harder Challenge - we don't read and discuss the same book, but instead talk about what we're reading for each task and recommend books to each other... so good! And then also a more traditional kind of book club where one of my very best friends and I read the same book and chat about it.
We have been focusing on books by women, and largely classics (ish). One that has been on our book club list since last year was Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, after we both read (and loved) My Cousin Rachel, and saw the movie together (I love a book club field trip!).
At the moment I'm part of two book clubs - one with some work friends who are also participating in the Read Harder Challenge - we don't read and discuss the same book, but instead talk about what we're reading for each task and recommend books to each other... so good! And then also a more traditional kind of book club where one of my very best friends and I read the same book and chat about it.
We have been focusing on books by women, and largely classics (ish). One that has been on our book club list since last year was Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, after we both read (and loved) My Cousin Rachel, and saw the movie together (I love a book club field trip!).
I think I like Rebecca even more than My Cousin Rachel!
Now, almost everyone loves this book, so I'm pretty sure all the things about how good it is have been said before, but I still want to talk a bit about what were some of my favourite things about this.
I am absolutely obsessed with du Maurier's writing. It is so clever! As I was reading I could see every scene so clearly that I almost feel like I have seen this as a movie, rather than read a book. BUT I never ever felt like I was being over-explained anything, and the descriptions all feel completely natural to the story (so, I never felt like extra info was being given for the sake of it - it all felt natural). How is this even possible?! I suspect in part it has to do with the context of the book, in terms of it being framed as a story being told by a narrator to an audience - so it's natural for there to be some description of the setting etc. But still, it feels like magic!
Another thing that really impressed me on reading this (and also when I read My Cousin Rachel) is that I just didn't know what to believe, and didn't see the twist/resolution until it was revealed. So cool.
I gave this 5 out of 5 stars, and am tempted to go on a backlist binge - I have a couple more of Daphne du Maurier's books that I'm really hoping to get to soon!
xo Bron
I am absolutely obsessed with du Maurier's writing. It is so clever! As I was reading I could see every scene so clearly that I almost feel like I have seen this as a movie, rather than read a book. BUT I never ever felt like I was being over-explained anything, and the descriptions all feel completely natural to the story (so, I never felt like extra info was being given for the sake of it - it all felt natural). How is this even possible?! I suspect in part it has to do with the context of the book, in terms of it being framed as a story being told by a narrator to an audience - so it's natural for there to be some description of the setting etc. But still, it feels like magic!
Another thing that really impressed me on reading this (and also when I read My Cousin Rachel) is that I just didn't know what to believe, and didn't see the twist/resolution until it was revealed. So cool.
I gave this 5 out of 5 stars, and am tempted to go on a backlist binge - I have a couple more of Daphne du Maurier's books that I'm really hoping to get to soon!
xo Bron
3 comments
Rebecca is one of those books that I keep meaning to read but have never actually gotten around to checking out. It sounds like an incredible story, though!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by our Top Ten Tuesday post earlier today. I hope you'll consider participating in it next week! :)
I love Rebecca. It is the only Daphne du Maurier that I have read so I would like to read through her others at some point.
ReplyDeleteMy library copy had a foreword by Sally Beaumont talking about in depth about how the main character remained unnamed where Rebecca’s power was in that everyone knew her name and used it constantly. So many interesting themes to tease out in a bookclub!
Loved it too B - maybe we should dig out the Hitchcock film 😊
ReplyDelete