Rebecca's Tale

When I first added this book to the list of books I wanted to read, I was somewhat afraid it would be insubstantial or unsatisfying beside Daphne du Maurier's original Rebecca. You worry about that when a different author goes to continue a story someone else has started. However, this is very well done unfolding the story from Rebecca's point of view gradually with a number of surprises along the way.There were only two things I didn't like about it; one was that the ending was a little disappointing regarding the characters investigating the continuation of the story. Not bad, just a little disappointing. The other was the repeated disparagement of the narrator of the original story - Maxim de Winter's second wife, who is never named in the original story and is referred to here only as 'Mrs. de Winter'. I quite liked her.

For all those who were haunted by Rebecca DeWinter after they read DuMaurier's novel, here is a wonderful book that will answer all your unanswered questions.From the first paragraph I was hooked, wanting to read more about Rebecca's hidden secrrets. I have most of DuMaurier's Rebecca memorized, so I instantly caught on to this story. (I reccomend rereading DuMaurier's Rebecca)The main plot is basically the hunt for information on Rebecca DeWinter. Thomas Grey, a journalist, desperatly wants to know more about her past for an unknown reason, Inspector Juliyan, now an ancient and decrepit old man wants to clear up the rumors that have been spreading about Manderley for the past 20 years.This book drags the reader on this search for the truth about the mysterious Rebecca. After being almost on the verge of obsession with DuMaurier's classic book, I was finally able to feel at peace.Even though this is NOT by the original author, Sally Beauman captured the spirit of the way Rebecca was written. I was captivated by her book from the beginning to end.

What a sad excuse for a sequel! I understand that it’s hard to please the reader after a brilliant classic like Rebecca, but this book is an insult to the original. The author completely changes the original story line, tediously focuses on side characters that are only marginally relevant, and drowns the reader in verbosity.All this aside, the biggest problem for me is that she totally distorts the character of Rebecca described by du Maurier. The beautiful, fearless, sophisticated and strong Rebecca is practically replaced by a child-woman who is restless, unreasonable, and meaninglessly obsessed with minutiae. Should we believe that this obsessive and weird woman really bewildered everyone around her, gaining their unconditional love and respect?The only reason I gave this book two stars is because there are a few parts where the story becomes a page-turner. But then, the author ends all mystery with in a completely unsatisfactory and disappointing ending. If you read Rebecca and fell in love with her like me, don’t read this book. It will only make you disappointed.

I enjoyed this book, however I personally feel that it should be read as the final installment of a trilogy. "Rebecca" is a wonderful story which leaves many questions unaswered. Susan Hill's "Mrs. DeWinter" answers many of those questions and finishes the story of Maxim and his 2nd wife. "Rebecca's Tale" lets us in on some, but certainly not all, of her history and gives insight into who she was. I agree with some of the other reviews as far as the ending. Something about it wasn't quite right but overall I enjoyed the read and now feel that I have the complete story.

A rather scant plot, filled in with soporific banalities. Ms. Beauman creates an outline with sparse revelations regarding Rebecca, or cryptic illusions to hint at the character of Rebecca. Then she fills in the in between parts with peripheral two-dimensional personalities. Too many journals with missing or blank pages which "speak volumes with their silence". When I read a book, I don't want silence, especially when that book promises to tell a fascinating character's tale, as in "Rebecca's Tale". A mundane book about a very non-mundane character created by the wonderful Daphne DuMaurier.

I really enjoyed this book. Of course I had read Rebecca first and wanted some answers. This didnt give the answers I sought but it did provide a thought provoking story from another character's point of view. It did begin to drag a little at the end and leave me with a few more questions concerning different things. All in all, it was worth the money and made for an entertaining read.

Just likeThe original story it left me with more questions than answered. I particularly enjoyed how the genealogies were described and hearing this author’s interpretation of Rebecca’s childhood. She remains elusive—-

Started slow but really drew me in. I loved "Rebecca" but it was interesting to look at the characters in a totally different light.

I read this novel after rereading 'Rebecca 'and reading Sally Beauman's essay appended to the Virago edition. In her essay, Beauman puts forward some ideas about the novel, some of which I agree with, some i found rather doubtful, so I was interested in what kind of fiction she made out of her analysis of the original novel.Overall I think 'Rebecca's Tale' is a success but Beauman doesn't seem to quite make up her mind whether she is writing a gothic novel in the du Maurier style, or a feminist response to the novel (as 'The Wild Sargasso Sea' is to 'Jane Eyre') or a detective mystery. For me it worked best as a mystery and I was kept guessing about the motives and identity of Mr Grey right up to the reveal. After that point the novel seemed to run out of steam. As a gothic novel, Beauman struggles to summon up the right atmosphere. A superfluous and clichéd ghost, that fleetingly appears, only serves as a reminder that a true master of the genre does not need such props.The sexual politics is rather laboured in places. A couple of new characters (i.e. not in the original novel) have no necessary purpose in the story and appear to have been added just to reveal themselves as gay. Nevertheless, I liked the feminist hero Ellie and I found her story very satisfying, even though it was tangential to the main plot.In her essay, Beauman suggests that Max de Winter's second marriage is a 'mariage blanc' (without sex). Personally, I don't think that is strongly supported by the text. I do find the second Mrs de Winter in 'Rebecca' annoying, but despite that I was a little shocked at Beauman's portrayal of her in this novel which seemed unnecessarily cruel. The problem with fan fiction, however literary, is that the readers will have their own ideas about the characters that they are already familiar with. Beauman's Rebecca's backstory was very unlike any I have imagined for 'my' Rebecca, but that did not spoil the novel for me.

This must be one of the greatest spoilsport books ever written. If, like me, you were completely captivated by Daphne du Maurier's magical, timeless tale, Do Not Read this Book. Every character you liked or respected is torn to shreds, even the lesser characters. It is only fit for burning. I would have given it a minus 5 but such options were not available.. Why would anyone write a book which attempts to destroy a timeless classic? Total rubbish

As a huge fan of ‘Rebecca’, I wasn’t sure what to make of this when I first started reading it. Initially I put it to one side. Then, I started reading it again and really got into it.It doesn’t conflict with Susan Hill’s brilliant sequel, ‘Mrs de Winter’ either - another issue which had worried me.It is as if one is seeing the original novel from a different angle. The book is set twenty years after ‘Rebecca’ but through the media of reminiscences and journals, it’s possible to see the other side of Rebecca’s story. The author makes good use of minor characters from the original and other ‘invented’ protagonists to tell the story.A really good read.

I've just read this book for the second time, having known and loved Rebecca for years. The first time I found it dragged and was a bit unbelievable, especially Rebecca's version of events. This time round, I realise: that is the point! Rebecca is not a reliable narrator. She is shown to be a liar about some things, for instance the death of her father - and there are big gaps in her narrative that are, on purpose, not filled in - the relevant part of volume 3 of her diary has been torn out, but we don't know by whom. So we're left to guess, what exactly went wrong with her marriage and what life was like with her father? Which raises the question: who do we believe? How truthful is Rebecca about anything? What really happened the night she was killed. After all, why should we blindly believe Maxim's version either? And the introduction of the 2nd Mrs de Winter is brilliant - she's just what you could imagine that girl turning into, still gauche, inept, totally besotted on Maxim and believing him completely. When you think about it, to find out your husband is a murderer and support him unquestioningly is an extraordinary, some might say extraordinarily stupid, thing to do. I did get annoyed with 'Ellie's tale' at the end as her whole story seemed a bit of a waste of time - but perhaps on the third reading....

If you are a fan of Rebecca then buying this book is a gamble. Overall I liked the concept and thought the parts of the story narrated by Rebecca provided an interesting and well thought out development of her character. However, I disliked the portrayal of the other characters, particularly the narration by the Colonel and the descriptions of the second Mrs De Winter. I didn't feel that the way these characters were portrayed or developed was in keeping with the original novel and for me this somehow spoiled both Rebecca's tale and my memories of the original novel (so much so that I felt I had to re-read Rebecca just to correct the damage). This doesn't make Rebecca's tale a terrible read - ironically if I had liked the original novel less, or if I had never read it, I would have enjoyed Rebecca's tale far more. However, in all honesty it was much more satisfying re-reading Rebecca and re-visiting the characters as portrayed by Du Maurier than picking up another author's perceptions of them twenty years after the original events.