Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

"Men are simpler than you imagine my sweet child. But what goes on in the twisted, tortuous minds of women would baffle anyone."

We’re finally visiting Manderley again in one of our most requested episodes. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is a mutual favorite—a novel we both encountered through pure curiosity and interest rather than assigned reading. There’s something magical about stumbling across classic literature in this way, with no expectations or responsibilities for the reading experience. Since that first encounter, we’ve each read Rebecca a few times, and of course we were eager to return to the novel with our literary lenses for today’s discussion.

Download today’s episode wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to subscribe to Novel Pairings so you never miss an episode.

These links are well worth scrolling, absorbing, or watching after you read Rebecca.

• Mrs. Danvers steals the show in du Maurier MUSICAL?! (The Guardian)

• Bluebeard’s Accomplice: Rebecca as Masochistic Fantasy (JSTOR)

• Literary Paper Dolls: Rebecca (The Paris Review)

• Nightmares, mirrors, and possession in Rebecca (British Library)

• Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940)

BBC Interview with Daphne du Maurier

On Patreon

If you want to learn more about the modern and postmodern literary eras in which du Maurier wrote, check out the recording (or audio) of our lecture: Literary History from Modernism to Postmodernism.

Tomorrow evening (9/27 @ 7 pm ET), we will gather as a book club to discuss Rebecca. Our book club meeting are special; members can choose to be on camera and jump in with their thoughts and questions. We always walk away with new perspectives, knowledge, and ideas about the classics, and these meetings serve as a lovely way to build community and interact with fellow readers. Meetings are not recorded, giving our members the comfort and privacy to be on camera and share their thoughts with no pressure. We would love to see you there, whether or not you read the book along with us! Mark your calendars for the rest of our fall semester events.

Final Words

It feels great to be back in the rhythm of our regular book discussion episodes, and we hope you enjoyed this one! We will be back in your podcast feed soon with more Modern Readers conversations, TBR toppling book lists, and literary analysis. Until then, we declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book.

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