Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, the House on the Strand, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, the Parasites, Hungry Hill, the Scapegoat, Castle Dor, Mary Anne, the Loving Spirit. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was published in 1938, du Maurier became to her great surprise one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works. Some observers have noted parallels with Jane Eyre. Much of the novel was written while she was staying in Alexandria, Egypt, where her husband was posted at the time. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" is the book's often quoted opening line, and from here its unnamed narrator recollects her past, telling the story of her transition into womanhood. While working as the companion to a rich American woman vacationing on the French Riviera, she becomes acquainted with a wealthy Englishman, Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter. After a fortnight of courtship, she agrees to marry him, and after the marriage accompanies him to his mansion, the beautiful West Country estate Manderley. Only upon their arrival at Manderley does the new bride realize how difficult it will be to lay to rest the memory of her husband's first wife, Rebecca. Rebecca is understood to have drowned in a sailing accident off the coast next to the mansion a year before, but her memory has a strong hold on the estate and all of its inhabitants and visitors, especially the domineering housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, one of literature's most infamous female villains. Mrs. Danvers, who was profoundly devoted to Rebecca, tries to undermine the second Mrs de Winter, suggesting to her that she will never attain the urbanity and charm that Rebecca possessed. Whenever the new Mrs. de ...http://booksllc.net/?l=en
