Rebecca's Tale
Published on 2. May 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
640 pages
978-0-7515-3228-9 (ISBN)
Description
On the twentieth anniversary of the death of Rebecca, the hauntingly beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter, family friend Colonel Julyan receives an anonymous parcel. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the title page -- Rebecca's Tale -- and two pictures: a photograph of Rebecca as a young child and a postcard of Manderley. Rebecca once asked Julyan to ensure she was buried in the churchyard facing the sea: if she ended up in the de Winter crypt, she warned, she'd come back to haunt him. Now, it seems, she has finally kept her promise.
Julyan's conscience has never been clear over the official version of Rebecca's death. Was Rebecca the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed. Or the gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others had suggested. The official story, the 'truth', has only had Maxim's version of events to consider. But all that is about to change . . .
Julyan's conscience has never been clear over the official version of Rebecca's death. Was Rebecca the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed. Or the gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others had suggested. The official story, the 'truth', has only had Maxim's version of events to consider. But all that is about to change . . .
Reviews / Votes
'The artful Sally Beauman plays extremely clever games with the staples of popular fiction, moving the pieces to make original and intriguing patterns . . . A hugely entertaining read, seriously romantic and with a terrific sense of atmosphere. Sally Beauman's control of her complex material is absolute' Kate Saunders, DAILY EXPRESS'Compelling, absorbing, captivating, haunting- Sally Beauman's most ambitious and imaginative book so far' Elaine Showalter
'REBECCA'S TALE is bold and clever In this evocative and compulsive reworking of the balance of power between the sexes, Sally Beauman steers her creation into feminist territory and succeeds in overturning our loyalties.' Elizabeth Buchan, THE TIMES
'Once you start reading a Beauman book, you can't put it down, as Rebecca's Tale attests I felt satisfied that she had done an extraordinary thing; she convinced me that the Rebecca of these assorted memories really was the Rebecce that du Maurier's novel had omitted. And while both du Maurier & Beauman are great storytellers, Beauman really is the better prose writer' Linda Grant, GUARDIAN
'Passionate, vivid, elusive as compelling as the original. .a real achievement' Joanna Trollope.
'ingenious eminently satisfying.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'intelligently constructed and full of surprises. Each voice rings true, especially that of Rebecca herself.' IRISH TIMES<
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-A)
Dimensions
Height: 178 mm
Width: 108 mm
Weight
340 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7515-3228-9 (9780751532289)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Person
Sally Beauman has had great critical and commercial success with all her novels: DESTINY, DARK ANGEL and the series LOVERS AND LIARS, DANGER ZONES and SEXTET have been translated into over twenty languages and have been bestsellers worldwide.