First Impression Friday: Rebecca

First Impression Friday is hosted by J.W. Martin.

First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

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I have come across First Impression Friday through Krsitin Kraves Books. It piqued my interest so I decided to do my own. What better way to start than with a colossal literary masterpiece. Let us start! P.S. Do check out Kristin Kraves Books as it has many interesting book and reading-related pieces. 

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .

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. (Source: Goodreads)

I’ll just have to say it outright. Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is one of the books that I have been looking forward to ever since I have heard of it about three to four years ago. Neither the author’s’ name nor the book’s title rang anything familiar. However, its inclusion in many must-read lists, and the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die List sealed the deal for me. After years of searching, I was finally able to purchase a copy of the book last year.

Because it was a book that I was looking forward to very much, I included it in my 2019 Top 20 Reading List. Despite several delays at the start of the year, I was finally able to find the time to read the book (although it is more of me pushing the panic button because it seems like I won’t be able to complete reading all 20 books in my ambitions 2019 Top 20 Reading List).

Off to the book. Even though I kept encountering the book, I barely researched nor read any substantial book review about it.I do know, however, that the story is wrapped with mystery, another selling point for me. It is with the same sense of cluelessness  that I commenced my reading journey. I am halfway to the story already.

At the onset, I was already enchanted by the unnamed narrator’s tone. She possessed a tone that reels the reader in. Nothing much happened at the start when she was being educated as a companion by Mrs. Van Hopper, a rich American lady. That was until the narrator got acquainted with the enigmatic George Fortescue Maximilian “Maxim” de Winter.

Maxim de Winter, the owner of the famed Manderley, lost her wife barely a year ago. He was on the process of convalescing when he met the narrator. They had a whirlwind romance and eventually got married. After their honeymoon, they moved to Manderley. The readers are then introduced to the motley crew who oversees the vast property. It was also in Manderley when the story started taking shape.

From the glimpses I got from Maxim’s actions and the narrator’s point of views, I am already getting hints of how the story is going to take shape. It is slowly transforming into something psychological. There’s a feeling of apprehension because this territory feels familiar, too familiar. Despite this apprehension, I am still giddy with excitement on how the story is going to proceed. What if I thought wrong and I was just getting way ahead of myself? I just hope so, desperately crossing my fingers.

I love how the writing suited the bleak atmosphere of the story. It is also the one of the subtler elements that is making me draw a hypothesis of the rest of the story. The illustrations that were interspersed in the book gave me brief respite from the heavy pall that hovers above the narrative.

I am still getting to the better parts of the story and I am so looking forward to how du Maurier is going to make my mind contort and distort. The story is keeping me engaged and I am so immersed into the story right now. I am hoping to finish the novel this weekend.

Happy reading! Happy weekend everyone!