Disclaimer: Rebecca was published in 1938 and contains outdated language and racist characterisations.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is not a classic to be slept on. I cannot believe it took me roughly 75 years since its initial publication to actually read the novel and I recommend if you have not read Rebecca, do so. It is an immensely atmospheric novel that envelopes you in the world until you are so caught up, you cannot escape Manderley.

Be aware reading this will require intentional reading, there is extensive descriptive writing and small font but if you persist, you will be transported into a story and atmosphere absolutely worth your time.

Although we never know the protagonist's name, the heroine or Mrs. de Winter, is the storyteller and throughout she is a mousy individual. Having grown up outside of extravagance and recently marrying an individual who lives an extravagant lifestyle and has a troubling past, he takes over the outward emotions whilst she is quiet and pensive throughout the majority of the novel. But, as secrets are exposed and she begins to learn more about her husband's past, she herself begins to change and become a more dynamic figure throughout and she's worth reading because her growth and insight is engrossing to read.

What is great about her character is she is unreliable. I adore an unreliable narrator. She may perceive one thing but in reality something else occurred and that sense of disconnect between fact and opinion increases the novel's ambiguity. She is quiet but her thoughts are anything but silent.

Maxim is an entitled man who loves the heroine. That's that. There is Rebecca, Maxim's previous wife whose tragic passing never leaves the heroine's thoughts and whose death is a major component of the story; Rebecca was gorgeous and powerful - exactly the right person to hold such a position of stature and somebody's shadow Mrs. de Winter struggles to escape from. I actually think out of all the characters, the side character of Beatrice, Maxim's sister, was my favourite. She was nosey, loud-mouthed, and I liked her fire.

The characters in Rebecca are worth your time, especially the protagonist as her perspective versus reality creates intrigue and depth within this novel.

Nothing happened in Rebecca and I couldn't pull myself away. You may think I'm crazy for saying nothing happened but nothing technically occurred plot wise, all we had was the "uncovering" of Maxim's involvement in Rebecca's death and an intriguing twist at the end. The novel was predominately the heroine's thoughts and sheer naivety towards the affluent world and is why I am so bamboozled that I couldn't stop reading her inner dialogue. I chalk it up to the moody descriptive writing because that was amazing.

The only thing I was able to guess was that the heroine would dress as Rebecca but otherwise, I was misled so many times because of the unreliability of the heroine which for me, created a heightened sense of atmosphere and I was always curious what would happen next. I suspected Rebecca was pregnant and the cause of her death but I was wrong - if Maxim hadn't killed her, would she have killed herself or goaded someone else into doing the deed? Rebecca was such a manipulative individual and I am also like 80% confident that her and Mrs. Danvers were in a romantic type of relationship or Mrs. Danvers was in love with Rebecca who didn't love her back. I can't believe she would let Manderley burn without their being an underlying component of more - there needed to be more to her devotion than just friendship; she gaslight Mrs. de Winter and blamed Maxim for Rebecca's death. And yes, she was on the money regarding Maxim's involvement but not the cause behind it. She may have even been the one blamed for her death if Rebecca had the chance, who knows? There are more emotions beneath that relationship but we will never know because it didn't pertain to the protagonist - ah, I love and hate unreliability.

I enjoyed Rebecca and I can see why this would have been such a highly received novel during the late 1930s because it was description heavy which really allows you to sink into the power writing can hold. I am glad I finally had enough mental energy to read Rebecca because the read was atmospheric and worth my time.