finished reading

This is a re-read for my book group the original post was from February 2017.

I kept forgetting this novel was written in the 1930s. The story unfolds gradually but creates tension. There's so much to it--it's a mystery, a gothic horror, a creep-fest, a coming of age story, and a romance--it's a juicy story! I liked the atmosphere. I liked the twists! I liked how the main character developed through the story--really blossoming from shrinking violet to a bold rose. I liked the interplay between the secondary characters. I didn't like the overwrought analysis of the main character--she would play out long imaginary scenarios and conversations. This classic has definitely influenced the genre!

From the publisher:

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again."

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca.