Rebecca is a Gothic novel written in 1938 by the English author Daphne du Maurier. The story follows an unnamed young woman who quickly marries a wealthy widower. Later, she learns that both her husband and his home are haunted by the memory of his first wife, the character after whom the book is named.

The novel became a bestseller and has never been out of print. Between 1938 and 1965, it sold 2.8 million copies. It has been adapted many times for plays, films, and musicals. These include a 1939 play by Daphne du Maurier, the 1940 film Rebecca directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and a 2020 remake directed by Ben Wheatley for Netflix.

The book is well known for the character of Mrs. Danvers, the West Country estate called Manderley, and its opening line: "Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Daphne du Maurier’s editor noted that Manderley is more about the feeling it creates than the actual building.

Synopsis

In the beginning of the story, the unnamed narrator dreams about her husband's estate, Manderley, and feels sad because she cannot return. Many years have passed since Manderley was destroyed, and the couple now lives in quiet peace in small hotels in the Mediterranean.

When the narrator was in her early twenties, she worked as a companion to a wealthy American woman on vacation in Monte Carlo. There, she met Maxim de Winter, a 42-year-old man who had recently lost his wife, Rebecca, who died in a sailing accident a year earlier. After spending two weeks together, the narrator becomes Maxim's wife and moves with him to Manderley, his estate in Cornwall. There, she meets Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper and former lady's maid to Rebecca.

Mrs. Danvers often makes the narrator feel small, telling her she will never be as beautiful or elegant as Rebecca. She shows the narrator the west wing of the house, which was Rebecca's bedroom and has been kept as a special place to honor her. When the narrator asks for small things, Mrs. Danvers and the other staff talk about how Rebecca once ran Manderley. Feeling intimidated by Mrs. Danvers and the people around her, who still admire Rebecca, the narrator becomes lonely.

The narrator begins to believe that Maxim regrets marrying her and still loves Rebecca. At the request of their neighbors, Manderley hosts a costume ball, a tradition started by Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers suggests the narrator wear a dress similar to one in a portrait of a former resident. When the narrator wears the dress, Maxim becomes angry and tells her to change it, as Rebecca had worn the same dress before her death.

When the narrator confronts Mrs. Danvers, she encourages the narrator to jump from Rebecca's bedroom window. However, they are interrupted by a nearby shipwreck. A diver finds Rebecca's boat, which still has her body inside, even though Maxim had previously identified another body that washed ashore months after Rebecca's death.

This discovery leads Maxim to confess that his marriage to Rebecca was not real. Rebecca, he reveals, was cruel and selfish, pretending to be perfect while having many lovers. On the night of her death, she threatened Maxim with the idea of having another man's child, which she would raise as his. Enraged, Maxim shot Rebecca and sank her boat at sea. The narrator is relieved to learn that Maxim has always loved her, not Rebecca.

Rebecca's boat is later recovered, and it is found to have been deliberately sunk. An investigation concludes Rebecca's death was a suicide. However, Rebecca's cousin and lover, Jack Favell, tries to blackmail Maxim, claiming Rebecca could not have committed suicide based on a note she sent him. It is later revealed Rebecca had a doctor's appointment in London before her death, which the narrator believes was to confirm a pregnancy. The doctor explains Rebecca had cancer and would have died within months. Due to her body's condition, she could not have been pregnant. Maxim believes Rebecca manipulated him into killing her. Mrs. Danvers had said after the investigation that Rebecca feared nothing more than dying slowly.

When the narrator learns that Mrs. Danvers has suddenly left Manderley, Maxim feels a deep sense of unease and insists on driving home through the night. Before reaching the house, they see a glow on the horizon and smell smoke, realizing Manderley is on fire.

Characters

• The Narrator/the Second Mrs. de Winter: A shy, inexperienced woman in her early twenties who likes to draw. Her first and maiden names are not known. She is called "my wife," "Mrs. de Winter," or "my dear." She is only given a name once, during a fancy dress ball, where she is introduced as "Caroline de Winter," but this is not her real name. She signs her name as "Mrs. M. de Winter," using Maxim's initial. Early in the story, she receives a letter and notices her name is spelled correctly, which she finds unusual. Maxim praises her name as "lovely and unusual" during their courtship. She becomes more confident as the story progresses.

• Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter: The quiet, emotionless owner of Manderley. He marries his new wife after a short courtship but shows little affection toward her. He is emotionally hurt by his past marriage to Rebecca, and his cold behavior makes his new wife worry he regrets marrying her and is still troubled by Rebecca's death. Maxim killed Rebecca after she threatened to have a child with him.

• Mrs. Danvers: The strict, controlling housekeeper of Manderley. She was Rebecca's childhood maid and has lived with the de Winter family for many years. She is deeply devoted to Rebecca and wants to keep her memory alive. She dislikes the new Mrs. de Winter, believing she is trying to replace Rebecca, and often torments her. Her attempts to harm the new wife fail. After learning about Rebecca's illness, Mrs. Danvers burns Manderley down. She is nicknamed "Danny," a name taken from her last name. Her first name is unknown, though a later book mentions it might be Edith.

• Rebecca de Winter: The dead, main character of the story, who has been gone for less than a year. She was a famous beauty and seemed to be a perfect wife and hostess, but she was unfaithful to Maxim. Her presence still affects Manderley, making visitors, staff, and the new Mrs. de Winter feel uneasy. Through conversations, it becomes clear that Rebecca was dishonest, charming but manipulative, and lacked guilt or remorse. She was also cruel, as seen in a story where she whipped a horse until it bled when she was young.

• Frank Crawley: A hardworking employee at Manderley and Maxim's trusted advisor. He becomes a friend to the new Mrs. de Winter and helps her feel more confident about managing Manderley. Rebecca once tried to seduce him.

• Beatrice Lacy (formerly de Winter): Maxim's independent and clever sister, who quickly becomes friendly with the new Mrs. de Winter. She married Giles Lacy before the story begins. She and her brother knew Rebecca's true nature, as her husband was seduced by Rebecca. She and Giles have a son named Roger.

• Giles Lacy: Beatrice's husband and Maxim's brother-in-law. He had an affair with Rebecca.

• Frith: A middle-aged, kind, and loyal butler at Manderley. He has worked for the de Winter family since Maxim was a child.

• Robert: A footman.

• Mrs. Van Hopper: The narrator's employer at the start of the story. A loud, bossy American woman who tries to connect with wealthy and famous guests to increase her own status.

• Clarice: The young maid who works for Mrs. de Winter.

• Jack Favell: Rebecca's dishonest cousin and lover. He grew up with Rebecca and shares many of her bad traits. He is disliked by Maxim and others. After Rebecca's death, he stays in contact with Mrs. Danvers, whom he calls "Danny," as Rebecca did.

• Gran: Maxim and Beatrice's 86-year-old grandmother, who is very old and confused. She raised Maxim and Beatrice but is now unable to care for herself. Mrs. de Winter visits her with Beatrice, but Gran does not know Rebecca is dead or that Maxim has remarried. She keeps asking about Rebecca, which causes Beatrice to end the visit early.

• Colonel Julyan: The investigator who looks into Rebecca's death and accuses Maxim of wrongdoing. He helps Maxim avoid being punished, even though he suspects the truth.

• Dr. Baker: A doctor who specializes in women's health. Rebecca secretly visited him before her death, and he diagnosed her with an unspecified type of cancer.

Development

In 1937, Daphne du Maurier signed a contract with Victor Gollancz to write three books and received an advance payment of £1,000. A 2008 article in The Daily Telegraph stated that she had been thinking about the theme of jealousy for five years after her marriage in 1932. She began writing slowly and sent Gollancz a letter saying, "The first 15,000 words I tore up in disgust, and this failed attempt has made me feel very discouraged."

Her husband, Tommy "Boy" Browning, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Grenadier Guards. They were stationed in Alexandria, Egypt, with the Second Battalion and left Britain on July 30, 1937. Gollancz expected her to finish the manuscript when they returned to Britain in December, but she wrote, "I am ashamed to tell you that progress on the new novel is slow…There is little chance I will bring back a finished manuscript in December."

After returning to Britain in December 1937, du Maurier decided to spend Christmas away from her family to focus on writing. She completed the book and delivered it to her publisher less than four months later. She described the story as "a dark and eerie tale about a woman who marries a widower…Psychological and somewhat strange."

Some people have noticed similarities between Rebecca and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Another of du Maurier's books, Jamaica Inn, has also been compared to Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

Du Maurier said Rebecca was a study of jealousy but rarely shared that it was inspired by her own life. Her husband had previously been engaged to Jan Ricardo, a glamorous woman with dark hair. Du Maurier was worried that Tommy still had feelings for Jan. In her 1981 notebook, she wrote: "Seeds began to drop. A beautiful home…a first wife…jealousy, a wreck, perhaps at sea, near to the house…But something terrible would have to happen, I did not know what…" In her notes, she added: "I want to build up the character of the first [wife] in the mind of the second…until wife 2 is haunted day and night…a tragedy is looming very close and CRASH! BANG! something happens."

Like Rebecca and Maximilian de Winter, du Maurier and her husband were not faithful to each other. Jan Ricardo eventually died by suicide during World War II, throwing herself under a train.

Du Maurier publicly said the book was based on her memories of Menabilly and Cornwall, as well as her relationship with her father. The setting of Manderly may have been inspired by her childhood visits to Milton Hall in Cambridgeshire (then in Northamptonshire), the home of the Wentworth-Fitzwilliam family.

Shortly after Rebecca was published in Brazil, critic Álvaro Lins noted many similarities between du Maurier's book and the work of Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco. Nabuco's novel A Sucessora (The Successor), published in 1934, shares a plot where a young woman marries a widower and faces the mysterious presence of the first wife—a theme also found in Jane Eyre. Nina Auerbach wrote in Daphne du Maurier, Haunted Heiress that du Maurier read the English version of Nabuco's book when it was sent to the same publisher as hers for publication in England, and that she based Rebecca on it.

After a 1941 article in The New York Times Book Review highlighted similarities between the two novels, du Maurier responded with a letter to the editor. According to Nabuco's autobiography, Eight Decades, she refused to sign an agreement with United Artists that would have claimed the similarities between her book and the movie were accidental. Another complication is that Nabuco's novel also resembles Encarnação, a book written by José de Alencar, a famous Brazilian novelist from the 19th century, which was published after his death in 1893.

In 1944, according to The Hollywood Reporter, du Maurier, her U.S. publishers Doubleday, and United Artists (distributors of the film adaptation) were sued for copying a 1927 novel titled Blind Windows by Edwina Levin MacDonald. MacDonald claimed du Maurier had stolen her work and sought an unspecified amount in damages. The case was dismissed on January 14, 1948.

Publishing history

Daphne du Maurier sent her manuscript to her publisher, Victor Gollancz, in April 1938. When the book arrived, it was read in Gollancz's office. Her editor, Norman Collins, said, "The new Daphne du Maurier contains everything that the public could want." Gollancz felt happy and relieved about the book. He predicted it would be a "great success." He acted quickly, ordering a first print run of 20,000 copies. Within a month, more than 40,000 copies of Rebecca had been sold. The novel has been continuously in print since 1938. In 1993, du Maurier's U.S. publishers, Avon, estimated that monthly sales of the paperback version of Rebecca reached more than 4,000 copies.

Du Maurier participated in several radio interviews with the BBC and other stations. In August 1938, she attended Foyle's Literary Lunch. At the same time, magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, and House & Garden published articles about du Maurier.

Rebecca is listed in the 20th-Century American Bestsellers descriptive bibliography database, which is maintained by the University of Illinois. The entry, written by Katherine Huber, includes detailed information about the English and American editions of the book, as well as translations.

Critical reception and awards

The Times said, "the material is of the humblest… nothing in this is beyond the novelette." In The Christian Science Monitor on 14 September 1938, V.S. Pritchett predicted the novel "would be here today, gone tomorrow."

More recently, in a column for The Independent, critics Ceri Radford and Chris Harvey recommended the book and argued that Rebecca is a "wonderfully gothic tale" with a strong sense of atmosphere and psychological horror.

Few critics recognized the novel’s main theme: the relationship between a powerful man and a woman without power.

In the U.S., du Maurier won the National Book Award for favorite novel of 1938, chosen by members of the American Booksellers Association. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 14 on the UK survey The Big Read.

In 2017, it was voted the UK's favorite book of the past 225 years in a poll by bookseller WHSmith. Other novels on the shortlist included To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

On 5 November 2019, the BBC listed Rebecca on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels.

Adaptations

The most famous film version of the story is the 1940 Academy Award-winning movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This was Hitchcock’s first film made under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim, Joan Fontaine as his wife, and Dame Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers. It was based on the novel. However, the Hollywood Production Code required that if Maxim had killed his wife, he would have to be punished for the crime. Because of this rule, the story was changed so that Rebecca’s death was accidental, not a murder. This change was not included in Orson Welles’ earlier radio play, which promoted the film. At the end of the movie, Mrs. Danvers dies in a fire she started. The film became a classic and was a major technical achievement in filmmaking.

An Indian film version titled Kohraa was released in 1964. It was directed by Biren Nag, written by Dhruva Chatterjee, and starred Waheeda Rehman, Biswajeet, and Lalita Pawar.

In 2020, Netflix released a version directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Jane Goldman. It stars Lily James as the second Mrs. de Winter, Armie Hammer as Maxim, and Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs. Danvers.

The story was adapted for radio in 1948 for The Philco Television Playhouse with Mary Anderson and Bramwell Fletcher; in 1950 for Robert Montgomery Presents with Barbara Bel Geddes and Peter Cookson; and in 1952 for Broadway Television Theatre with Patricia Breslin and Scott Forbes.

A 1952 NBC-TV version, Theatre '62, featured James Mason as Maxim, Joan Hackett as the second Mrs. de Winter, and Nina Foch as Mrs. Danvers.

A 1979 BBC adaptation, directed by Simon Langton, starred Jeremy Brett as Maxim, Joanna David as the second Mrs. de Winter, and Anna Massey as Mrs. Danvers. It had four 55-minute episodes and was shown in the United States on PBS as part of its Mystery! series.

A 1997 Carlton Television drama serial, Rebecca, starred Emilia Fox as the second Mrs. de Winter, Charles Dance as Maxim, and Dame Diana Rigg as Mrs. Danvers. It was directed by Jim O’Brien and written by Arthur Hopcraft. It was broadcast in the United States by PBS as part of Masterpiece Theatre. This version included a scene where Rebecca appears, played by Lucy Cohu, and ended with Maxim and the second Mrs. de Winter relaxing abroad.

A 2008 Italian TV adaptation, Rebecca, la prima moglie, aired on RAI. It featured Alessio Boni as Maxim, Cristiana Capotondi as Jennifer de Winter, and Mariangela Melato as Mrs. Danvers. The miniseries was filmed in Trieste.

An Urdu-language Pakistani drama series, Noor Pur Ki Rani, was released in 2009 on Hum TV. It was directed by Haissam Hussain and written by Samira Fazal. Sanam Baloch played the main role.

The first adaptation of the story was a 1938 radio play by Orson Welles on The Campbell Playhouse. Welles introduced the story and mentioned the upcoming film by David O. Selznick. The play was adapted by Howard E. Koch and starred Welles and Margaret Sullavan as Maxim and the second Mrs. de Winter. Other actors included Mildred Natwick, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, and Agnes Moorehead. Bernard Herrmann composed the score, which later influenced his work on the 1943 film Jane Eyre.

The Screen Guild Theater presented half-hour versions in 1943 and 1948, starring Joan Fontaine, Brian Aherne, Agnes Moorehead, Loretta Young, and John Lund. A 1946 version on The Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players featured Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten.

Lux Radio Theatre produced hour-long versions in 1941 and 1950, starring Ronald Colman, Ida Lupino, Judith Anderson, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Betty Blythe. These versions followed the film’s changes to the story. Orson Welles’ earlier radio version, however, stayed true to the novel’s ending.

Daphne du Maurier adapted the story as a stage play in 1939. It ran successfully in London for over 350 performances in 1940. A version for blind readers, read by Barbara Caruso, is based on this play and differs from the novel.

A Broadway version opened in 1945, starring Diana Barrymore, Bramwell Fletcher, and Florence Reed. A 1990 version by the Brunton Theatre Company in Musselburgh was directed by Charles Nowosielski.

The story was also adapted into a German-language musical, Rebecca, which opened in Vienna in 2006. An opera version, with music by Wilfred Josephs, premiered in 1983 in Leeds, England, by Opera North.

Sequels and related works

The novel has led to three other books that were approved by the du Maurier estate:

• Mrs. de Winter (1993) by Susan Hill. (ISBN 978-0-09-928478-9)
• The Other Rebecca (1996) by Maureen Freely. (ISBN 978-0-89733-477-8)
• Rebecca's Tale (2001) by Sally Beauman. (ISBN 978-0-06-621108-4)

Also, many fan fiction websites include stories that follow the original book, take place before it, or change its events.

As a code key in World War II

During World War II, one edition of the book was used by the Germans as a code key. Sentences were created using single words from the book, identified by their page number, line number, and position within the line. One copy was kept at Rommel's headquarters, and the other was carried by German Abwehr agents who had infiltrated Cairo. These agents traveled by car through Egypt, guided by Count László Almásy. However, the code was never used. The radio section of the headquarters was captured during a small battle, and the Germans believed the code had been discovered.

This use of the book is mentioned in Ken Follett's novel The Key to Rebecca, where a fictional spy uses it to send important information to Rommel. The code is also referenced in Michael Ondaatje's 1992 novel The English Patient.

Notable cultural references

The book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier has influenced other works. It is mentioned multiple times in Stephen King's Bag of Bones, and some parts of du Maurier's story are used again in King's novel. In Bag of Bones, the character Mrs. Danvers acts like a scary figure for the main character, Mike Noonan.

In Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, thousands of copies of Mrs. Danvers are created.

The 1970 storyline of the TV show Dark Shadows was inspired by Rebecca, including a scene with a costume ball. The 1970 movie Night of Dark Shadows also used ideas from the novel.

A parody of Rebecca appeared on The Carol Burnett Show in 1972. The skit, called "Rebecky," features Carol Burnett as the main character, Daphne; Harvey Korman as Max "de Wintry" and as Mother Marcus; and Vicki Lawrence as Mrs. Dampers.

Another parody of Rebecca is in the 2008 TV show That Mitchell and Webb Look. In the sketch, Robert Webb plays Maxim, David Mitchell plays Mrs. Danvers, and Jo Neary plays Rebecca. The story is told from Rebecca's perspective, showing her being haunted by the household's excitement about a new wife.

Some Latin-American soap operas, such as Manuela (Argentina), Infierno en el paraíso (Mexico), Julia and El Fantasma de Elena (Venezuela), and La Sombra de Belinda (Puerto Rico), have plots inspired by Rebecca.

Meg & Dia's Meg Frampton wrote a song titled "Rebecca" based on the novel.

Steve Walsh, a member of the band Kansas, included a song called "Rebecca" on his solo album Glossolalia. The lyrics mention returning to Manderley, a place from the novel.

Steve Hackett's album To Watch the Storms also has a song titled "Rebecca."

Taylor Swift's song "Tolerate It" from her album Evermore is inspired by Rebecca. Maisie Peters' 2025 song "Say My Name in Your Sleep" was also influenced by the novel.

The Dutch metal band Blackbriar references Manderley in their song "Crimson Faces" and is inspired by Rebecca. The song discusses themes like jealousy, insecurity, and being haunted by the past.

In 2013, a watch company called Du Maurier Watches, founded by the grandson of Daphne du Maurier, released a special collection of two watches inspired by characters from the novel—The Rebecca and The Maxim.