I had never heard of this classic until a few months ago when the new Netflix film sparked a huge influx in readers. I actually watched the film before reading and was shocked to see so many differences in the timeline of events in the film compared to the book.

The book starts off a bit slow and it took me a while to get used to the pace and the narrator. But once I was a few chapters in, I was hooked. I found the narrator's style to be VERY (perhaps TOO) descriptive at times but I loved the details of every event.

If you're unsure what the book is about, a young woman (our narrator) meets the affluent and popular Maxim de Winter whilst in Monte Carlo working as a kind of PA to an unbearable woman. Events transpire and Maxim and our narrator end up getting married and subsequently move back to Maxim's grand mansion, Manderley. However, the house is riddled with the presence of Maxim's late wife, Rebecca and our narrator must learn how to familiarise herself in a house and life that isn't hers. Yet when a dead body is found at the bottom of the sea close to Manderley, it washes up a whole different side to Rebecca's story...

After finishing the book, it suddenly dawned on me how superb an author Daphne de Maurier is. The way she writes constantly puts the reader on edge and guides the reader to think one way, before brutally switching everything on its head. The constant references to the pungent smell of rhododendrons beautifully illustrates how Rebbeca's influence is overwhelmingly hard to escape for our narrator.

A truly magnificent book that is as entertaining and relevant today as it would have been when it was released in August 1938.

I can't wait to discuss it with the 'Let's Get Classical' Book Club!