Rebecca's Tale: A Novel - Hardcover

Beauman, Sally

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0066211085 ISBN 13: 9780066211084

Publisher: William Morrow, 2001

Synopsis

April 1951. It is twenty years since the death of Rebecca, the hauntingly beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter. It is twenty years since the inquest, which famously -- and controversially -- passed a verdict of suicide. Twenty years since Manderley, the de Winters' ancient family seat, was razed to the ground.

But Rebecca's tale is just beginning.

Family friend Colonel Julyan receives an anonymous parcel in the post. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the first page -- Rebecca's Tale -- and two pictures: a photograph of Rebecca as a young child and a postcard of Manderley.

A mysterious young scholar by the name of Terence Gray has also appeared in town, looking for clues to Rebecca's life and death. His presence causes a stir in the quiet hamlet, and the tongues that had wagged about Rebecca years before now attend to the close ties Gray has formed to the Colonel and his single daughter, Ellie.

Amid the intrigues of this small coastal town, Ellie, Gray, and the Colonel begin a search for the real Rebecca. Was she the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed, or the Gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others have suggested? Was her death really suicide, or was it murder?

Sally Beauman has taken Daphne du Maurier's celebrated twentieth-century classic, Rebecca, and crafted a compelling companion for the twenty-first century. Haunting, evocative, mesmerizing, Rebecca's Tale is for anyone who has ever dreamed of going back to Manderley.

About this title

About the Author:

Sally Beauman is a New York Times bestselling author and journalist who began her career at New York magazine. Her internationally bestselling novels, including Rebecca's Tale, her sequel to Daphne du Maurier's iconic work, have been translated into more than twenty languages. She has written for The New Yorker, the Sunday Times, and numerous other leading periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic.

From AudioFile:

Does Miriam Margolyes ever give a bad performance? Margolyes breathes a bit of life into this predictable novel by Sally Beauman, lending a different voice to each character in its quiet seaside setting. But even Margolyes's great ability isn't enough to overcome the slow start to this story or the predictable melodrama that unfolds. Margolyes perfectly captures the mean spirit and drama behind Rebecca, the novel's focus, but the result is the listener's strong dislike for most of the characters involved. One wonders if the abridgment cut out any redeeming qualities of Rebecca and those around her. While Margolyes makes the story somewhat enjoyable with her talent for reading, it isn't enough to warrant a replay. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0066211085
• ISBN 13: 9780066211084
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448