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A review by imogenrose97
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5.0
It was frustrating for me to read the first half of the book because I sort of understood where our narrator was coming from but because I've done a lot of therapy and I'm and ADULT I worked out that she was spiralling. I really struggled because it frustrates me when people haven't worked out what's wrong in the same time that I have.
What made Rebecca bad? Was it her wish to live a full life outside of the confines of society? She was bad for cheating on her husband, sure. But was she bad in how free she wanted to be. She only wanted to live. She only wanted to be treated as a man, act like one and have the respect a man would.
We are expected to hate her and I did; until a pause and thought came through of what if that were me? What if I was born back then and smart enough to think outside of societal expectations, would I have made the same deals? The answer is undoubtedly that I would not because I would never have grown to be as bold as her. I would have quietly seethed and bitched in lonely corners about the tirade of man. So in the end I am more impressed by her than mad, she made a space for herself using the only tools she had and raced to the end of her life spectacularly.
How a book published so long ago speaks both to society today and that of it's time is impressive, a classic for a reason.
What made Rebecca bad? Was it her wish to live a full life outside of the confines of society? She was bad for cheating on her husband, sure. But was she bad in how free she wanted to be. She only wanted to live. She only wanted to be treated as a man, act like one and have the respect a man would.
We are expected to hate her and I did; until a pause and thought came through of what if that were me? What if I was born back then and smart enough to think outside of societal expectations, would I have made the same deals? The answer is undoubtedly that I would not because I would never have grown to be as bold as her. I would have quietly seethed and bitched in lonely corners about the tirade of man. So in the end I am more impressed by her than mad, she made a space for herself using the only tools she had and raced to the end of her life spectacularly.
How a book published so long ago speaks both to society today and that of it's time is impressive, a classic for a reason.