Rebecca's Tale - Softcover

BEAUMAN, SALLY.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0751532282 ISBN 13: 9780751532289

Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks., 2002

Synopsis

A crisp clean softcover, no markings throughout:\nPublished more than 60 years ago, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca still captivates, at least partly because of its insistent ambiguity: we never learn definitively whether Maxim de Winter murdered his stunning first wife, Rebecca, or why Maxim so hastily remarried a mousy younger woman, famously unnamed. Selected by the du Maurier estate, Beauman (Destiny) has written a "companion" to Rebecca that preserves, and even deepens, the earlier novel's crafty evasions. Set in 1951, two decades after Rebecca's death was ruled a suicide, Beauman's story opens with the same (now famous) sentence as the earlier book: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Elderly, ailing Colonel Arthur Julyan was magistrate in the district when the legendary de Winter mansion mysteriously burned to the ground. Julyan's last days are disturbed by the intrusive visits of Terence Gray, a Scottish academic who claims to be writing a book about Rebecca's death. Then both Julyan's sharp daughter Ellie and Gray, who has secrets of his own, become rattled when Rebecca's personal effects begin arriving at the Julyan home. One of the anonymously sent packages contains Rebecca's journal, written just before her death a possible Rosetta stone. Beauman expertly tells Rebecca's tale from four different perspectives Julyan's, Gray's, Ellie's and, most vividly, Rebecca's without settling which version is nearest the truth. Though a composite Rebecca emerges depressive, possibly schizophrenic, promiscuous, fearless and almost certainly "dangerous" Beauman merely hints at a biological cause, raising titillating, though fully plausible, possibilities. This lushly imagined sequel, which cleverly reproduces the cadences of du Maurier's prose, resurrects Manderley without sweeping away all the artful old cobwebs.

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: Time Warner Paperbacks.
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0751532282
• ISBN 13: 9780751532289
• Binding: Paperback