Rebecca's Tale

In a distinctly unique style, very different from the original, from various points of view. This narrative turns everyhting upside-down, it must be one of the cleverest novels ever written. All my impressions of the first novel have gone topsy-turvy. Loved it! Am moving on to 'Mrs De Winter' by Hill! We'll see what that changes. (How's that for obsessive?)

I found it hard to put this book down! Its a detective's tale, that involves four characters that are trying to find out who killed Rebecca, they are all connected to her in some way, some very mysteriously. But it seems that Rebecca is just beyond they're grasp at all times. Although its a long way into the story before you get to really know her, I began to get drawn into finding out about her. And once I did find her, I was shocked and awed at what was found! Although the story was wonderful, it left me wanting. There were several leads that weren't followed through. So much so, that when I put down the book, I felt as if it wasn't finished.

I should first say that I'm not a diehard fan of Rebecca (though I do quite like it), so my response to Rebecca's Tale may be different from truly devoted fans of the original novel. The novel is divided into 4 parts, each with a different narrator (I won't name them here in case that counts as a spoiler!). Beauman does a good job of giving each character his / her own distinct voice; some writers attempt to narrate with different characters, but everyone sounds the same-- that's not the case here. Chalk one up for Beauman's style. I think what I liked most about Beauman's novel was the themes she chose to pick up and elaborate on from Rebecca: death sealed in persons (along with sterility), the life in nature, the notion of place (and breaking away from it), and a few others. Explorations of sexuality are also more explicit in this novel; even nature becomes almost overwhelmingly fecund. The novel still hovers at the question of who Rebecca was in life, but it also tries to pick apart who and what she has become in death. I should emphasize that this is NOT a retelling of Rebecca but a "further-telling" of, perhaps, Manderly itself and the lives of all it touches. It's not a remake, and it's overall not an attempt to explain (its weakest moments are, in fact, when it DOES try to explain, and that's why I give it 4 stars, along with the fact that it can be rather obvious in its "mysteries" at some points). Recommended, especially after rereading Rebecca.

I read Sally Beauman's Rebecca's Tale after it was reissued in trade paperback under the Harper-Collins "History" imprint. This line of books has sought to capitalize on the recent renaissance of "revisionist" fiction and sequels to popular and classic works alike, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Janet Aylmer's "Darcy's Story") to Bronte's Jane Eyre (Emma Tennant's "Thornfield Hall"). I understand publishers' interest in such works: they revisit the characters and plotlines of well-loved books that have proven themselves worldwide bestsellers; from a business perspective, a re-working of any Austen, Bronte, or Du Maurier novel is, to borrow the phraseology of an 80's teen flick, a "sure thing." Both publishers and potential readers of this type of novel should be aware that there is a good chance many readers will find literary reworkings of classic novels at best unsatisfactory and, at worst, sacrilegious. It's analogous to screen adaptations of classic and/or bestselling novels--potential viewership is high, but so is the chance that those viewers will object strenuously to perceived inaccuracies or misrepresentations of the original author's work. One might think that Sally Beauman has a better chance for success, considering that the main character of her novel is one who was developed in Du Maurier's original work only through hearsay and piecemeal deductions strung together by a third-party narrator. Yet readers have conjured up their own vision of what Rebecca de Winter would have been like had Du Maurier introduced her to us in the proverbial flesh, and Beauman's characterization may or may not be what they had in mind. Interestingly, Bauman does NOT introduce us to Rebecca, either--in fact, RT makes use of the same oblique characterization techniques as Du Maurier's novel, offering insight into Rebecca via the "off-scene" media of journal entries and third party personal testimonies. RT is a piece of detective fiction. Since I am not a frequent reader of mysteries, I can't say whether the novel fulfills all the expectations of that genre, however, RT certainly pulls at the reader with the intensity of a "who-done-it," and at many points comes close to succeeding. The writer deluges us with hundreds, indeed potentially thousands of details--of family lineages and ancestry, of affairs hinted at or revealed outright, of paternity disputes, childhood traumas, "mysterious" would-be suicides, and dozens of personal testimonies, each potentially unreliable or tainted by natural human bias. Much of this information is compelling enough to draw the reader along, producing a "page-turner" of sorts; I don't use this in the conventional sense of a thrilling or wildly entertaining novel but, rather, in a more literal fashion. The reader has invested a bit of time and effort in wading through all these details, so it's only natural that we should feel compelled to get to the "good part," the natural denouement that imparts a feeling of ti

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.