Product Description

Rejacketed alongside Air and Angels, The Mist in the Mirror and The Woman in Black to create a set of Susan Hill's most absorbing, enchanting and unsettling backlist titles

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90420 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
"Recbecca" was Daphne du Maurier's most famous and best-loved novel. Countless readers wondered: what happened next? Out of fire-wracked ruins of Manderley, would love and renewal rise pheonix-like from the ashes of the embittered past? Married to the sophisticated, wordly-wise Maxim, the second Mrs de Winter's life should be happy and fulfilled. But the vengeful ghost of Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, continues to cast its long shadow over them. Back in England after an absence of over ten years, it seems as if happiness will at last be theirs. But the de Winters still have to reckon with two hate-consumed figures they once knew - both of whom have very long memories...

About the Author
Susan Hill was born in Scarborough and educated at King's College, London. Her novels include Gentlemen and Ladies, I'm the King of the Castle (Somerset Maugham Award), Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night (Whitbread Award), A Bit of Singing and Dancing, In the Springtime of the Year, Air and Angels, The Mist in the Mirror and Mrs de Winter. Her novel The Woman in Black has been adapted for the stage and has been running to great acclaim in the West End since 1988. Her children's books include Can It Be True? (Smarties Prize), The Glass Angels and King of Kings.

Customer Reviews

An excellent sequel, true to the original
I was surprised at the one star reviews I read here. I recently reread Rebecca after about a thirty year lag, having first read it in high school in the 1970s, and was quite surprised at how dark the novel is on rereading. So I was interested to see what Ms. Hill made of a sequel.

Yes, it is quite dark and disturbing and the ending is beyond sad, but really there was nothing else to be done, in my opinion. The amorality of the second Mrs. DeWinter in Rebecca is astounding and I feel that Hill captured that perfectly in her sequel. None of these people are likable, nor did DuMaurier intend them to be. I would have been deeply offended by a hearts and flowers sequel. Death is the only answer to what went before.

I also appreciated the quality of Hill's writing. It is damned hard for a writer to write in another's voice, but I think Ms. Hill succeeds in replicating DuMaurier here. Both books made me think seriously about love and morals. I have Rebecca's Tale, but never got around to reading it. I am trying to imagine whitewashing a sociopath. I should try to read it and see how Beauman measures up.

An Interesting Sequel
Mrs. deWinter is well written and an interesting read, especially for fans of Rebecca who want to know what happens to the family. Though I would have preferred some happiness in the lives of the characters created by Ms. Du Maurier, I believe this author did preserve the dark and moody aspects of the original novel. I read most books I like more than once, but I likely will not read this again because I prefer happier books. However, this story is believable as far as what happened to this family and their acquaintances, and the information is worth knowing. I did enjoy reading this book and definitely recommend it. I especially like the fact that we still do not know, and never will, Mrs. deWinter's first name. This preserves the continuing mystery surrounding this fascinating woman and the course her life has taken.

Fanfiction, anyone?
I must confess, I chose to read this book mainly due to the number of terrible reviews it had received, both here and 'across the Pond'. Call me masochistic, but I was curious. Could it really be as bad as all that?

If anything, 'Mrs de Winter' serves the purpose of being a good example of How Not To Write A Novel, never mind a sequel to one of the most beloved classics of 20th century literature. In fact, I would encourage all writers to keep it at hand as a guide; let's see, entire paragraphs held together by comma splices; a complete lack of narrative drive; a storyline that is dependent solely on melodrama and coincidence; a ludicrous and frankly predictable climax, and characters who seem to have experienced a kind of pre-frontal lobotomy since we last saw them, never mind failed to have matured in any way; missing all of the quiet strength, strange empathy and intensely unique personality tics that made du Maurier's original characters so enduring.

What surprises me most is the fact that the author of this sorry piece is Susan Hill, a seasoned writer who is responsible for, among other things, The Woman In Black, an intelligent and hauntingly gothic ghost story that was made into a very successful stage adaptation, and which I had the fortune and pleasure of seeing on tour earlier this year. In other words, there is no excuse for the poor quality of this novel. Undoubtedly Hill has talent, but one would not realise it from reading 'Mrs de Winter'. Was I not aware of Hill's other work, I would have dismissed her as one of those lucky idiots who occasionally slip through the publishing net and manage find an audience for their fanfiction.

I suppose the moral of this story is: sequels are generally a bad idea, unless written by the author of the original work. And even they don't always work out.