Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I first read this in high school I think, then devoured other du Maurier stories, including The Birds, which most know as a Hitchcock film. I was led back to Rebecca because I read and loved The Sisters Mortland recently, which led me to Rebecca's Tale from our local library.

As an aside, I loved Rebecca's Tale and don't quite get the negative reviews. Beauman followed du Maurier's style quite well, kept true to the tidbits in Rebecca and added a bit more dimension. Did I miss something? Someone said in a review that it was never clear how Rebecca died but in rereading Rebecca just now it seems clear if you believe Maxim's confession to his unnamed new wife. She taunted him about being pregnant by someone else and knowing that child would inherit Manderley. So yes he killed her and yes she committed "suicide by murder" as it were.

Anyway, after reading Rebecca's Tale I had to go back and reread the original, as it had been many many years. I'm happy to say that it's still a great read AND makes me want to go to Cornwall.