Marguerite Kaye's Reviews > Daphne

Like most of the people who've reviewed this book, I've been obsessed with Rebecca since I first read it, aged 16. I'm a huge fan of books which interleve past and present stories (AS Byatt's Possession is one of my all-time favourite books),and Daphne did this really well. The sections with Du Maurier at Menabbily were the most haunting and worked best for me, and I loved the complexity of the parallel strands, the stories within stories even within the real Du Maurier's life - the metaphor of the lost boys, for example, was really well done.

Again, like almost all of the other reviewers, I thought the sections with the modern-day protagonist were the weakest. The parllel's between her and the second Mrs de Winter, whom I've always found irritating, meant I was never going to be empathetic towards her though perhaps that's what Ms Picardie intended.

All in all though, I realy liked this. It made me want to go to Cornwall. I've just ordered a bio of du Maurier, and I've looked out my very ancient copy of Rebecca for tonight.