Product Description

April 1951. It is twenty years since the death of Rebecca, the hauntingly beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter. It is twenty years since the inquest, which famously -- and controversially -- passed a verdict of suicide. Twenty years since Manderley, the de Winters' ancient family seat, was razed to the ground.

But Rebecca's tale is just beginning.

Family friend Colonel Julyan receives an anonymous parcel in the post. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the first page -- Rebecca's Tale -- and two pictures: a photograph of Rebecca as a young child and a postcard of Manderley.

A mysterious young scholar by the name of Terence Gray has also appeared in town, looking for clues to Rebecca's life and death. His presence causes a stir in the quiet hamlet, and the tongues that had wagged about Rebecca years before now attend to the close ties Gray has formed to the Colonel and his single daughter, Ellie.

Amid the intrigues of this small coastal town, Ellie, Gray, and the Colonel begin a search for the real Rebecca. Was she the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed, or the Gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others had suggested? Was her death really suicide, or was it murder?

Sally Beauman has taken Daphne du Maurier's celebrated twentieth-century classic, Rebecca, and crafted a compelling companion for the twenty-first century. Haunting, evocative, mesmerizing, Rebecca's Tale is for anyone who has ever dreamed of going back to Manderley.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1333634 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-06
• Binding: Hardcover
• 438 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Published more than 60 years ago, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca still captivates, at least partly because of its insistent ambiguity: we never learn definitively whether Maxim de Winter murdered his stunning first wife, Rebecca, or why Maxim so hastily remarried a mousy younger woman, famously unnamed. Selected by the du Maurier estate, Beauman (Destiny) has written a "companion" to Rebecca that preserves, and even deepens, the earlier novel's crafty evasions. Set in 1951, two decades after Rebecca's death was ruled a suicide, Beauman's story opens with the same (now famous) sentence as the earlier book: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Elderly, ailing Colonel Arthur Julyan was magistrate in the district when the legendary de Winter mansion mysteriously burned to the ground. Julyan's last days are disturbed by the intrusive visits of Terence Gray, a Scottish academic who claims to be writing a book about Rebecca's death. Then both Julyan's sharp daughter Ellie and Gray, who has secrets of his own, become rattled when Rebecca's personal effects begin arriving at the Julyan home. One of the anonymously sent packages contains Rebecca's journal, written just before her death a possible Rosetta stone. Beauman expertly tells Rebecca's tale from four different perspectives Julyan's, Gray's, Ellie's and, most vividly, Rebecca's without settling which version is nearest the truth. Though a composite Rebecca emerges depressive, possibly schizophrenic, promiscuous, fearless and almost certainly "dangerous" Beauman merely hints at a biological cause, raising titillating, though fully plausible, possibilities. This lushly imagined sequel, which cleverly reproduces the cadences of du Maurier's prose, resurrects Manderley without sweeping away all the artful old cobwebs. Readers should pounce. Agent, Peter Matson. 15-city NPR campaign. (Oct. 2)Forecast: While Rebecca may not be familiar to younger readers (though the 1940 Hitchcock film starring Laurence Olivier is a classic), Beauman's seductive sequel should do well on its own and also prompt interest in the original, which is being reissued in mass market.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In his third outing (after Irresistible and The Broken Hearts Club), New York police detective Conrad Voort has drinks with his old boyhood friend, Meechum Keef, who asks him to check into a group of people. He gives no explanation, nor does he tell Voort where the people are to be found. After some investigation, Voort finds that several of these people have died accidentally. Then Keef himself goes missing. The people on the list, he realizes, have all been involved in some antigovernment activities, but this is the only thread that binds them together. Because Voort comes from a wealthy, influential family, he is able to gain access to many Washington, DC, records, which provide important information leading to an explanation. Black, the pseudonym for a best-selling New York journalist, has created a complex plot equal to his previous page-turners. From next to nothing, the detectives compile a complete picture of the group on the list and those who are hunting them. Except for Voort's annoying tendency to go to bed with beautiful victims, Black writes nearly perfect thrillers. For all public libraries.Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Does Miriam Margolyes ever give a bad performance? Margolyes breathes a bit of life into this predictable novel by Sally Beauman, lending a different voice to each character in its quiet seaside setting. But even Margolyes's great ability isn't enough to overcome the slow start to this story or the predictable melodrama that unfolds. Margolyes perfectly captures the mean spirit and drama behind Rebecca, the novel's focus, but the result is the listener's strong dislike for most of the characters involved. One wonders if the abridgment cut out any redeeming qualities of Rebecca and those around her. While Margolyes makes the story somewhat enjoyable with her talent for reading, it isn't enough to warrant a replay. H.L.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

When you have a masterpiece...
Why mess with it? Sally Beauman forces us to view Rebecca in a different, admirable light, certainly a far cry from the way Rebecca is portrayed in the original novel. I find that a bit daring of Ms. Beauman to assume that she understands a character none of us really do. I think Rebecca must have been a mystery even to Daphne DuMaurier. She also gives an unfair picture of the second Mrs. DeWinter, clearly showing that she found her to be a dull, spiritless character. This is not the same character I read in the original, but we all have our own opinions. However, the biggest problem of the book is that it spends hundreds of pages building up a pathetic romance that takes a surprising, but rather silly and disappointing turn. Finally, she rushes to end the book, lamely trying to convince us all that Rebecca was a woman of strength who manages to inspire women beyond the grave. Somehow, I think I liked Rebecca better when she was just a seductive, domineering presence. Excusing her behavior doesn't seem like the sort of thing Rebecca would ever do. Rebecca does what she wants, and answers to no one; that's why we love to hate her.

Intriguing!
If you haven't read Daphne DuMaurier's 'Rebecca,' I would absoloutely read it before venturing onto this one. It will make much better sense, and add endless delights to your reading.

I thought this book was quite well-done. It starts out painfully slow, but after the first narration, picks up & begins to fly. By the time Rebecca's second notebook is revealed- it's exciting!

What I enjoyed most about the novel was that even with the words from the oh-so mysterious Rebecca, right there on paper, there were still endless possibilities as to what truly happened between she & Maxim all those years ago.

The original novel is a masterpiece, & Beauman was brave to play with such well known character's- she must have had such fun!

The overriding theme of freedom for women & what it means to be denied choices, was nicely done & well said.

Recommended!

Pale Rebecca
The original _Rebecca_ was fantastic - well-written and beautiful. The followup was, in comparison, dry and almost redundant. Although the characters telling the story changed (often a helpful novelist technique), the voice never did. All of the characters therefore adopted a motonotonous tone in telling their stories.

The true power of _Rebecca_ lay in the mystery of a woman never met. Placing her in the full light of day in _Rebecca's Tale_, unfortunately, pales her power and mystery. Having enjoyed _Rebecca_ as much as I did, I found the sequel too flat to relish. Maybe the sequel would be better as a stand-alone rather than a followup story, as others have mentioned.