Why This Book Matters
Rebecca was the bestselling novel in Britain in 1938 and the United States in 1939. It has never gone out of print. Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film adaptation won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The novel essentially invented the modern 'psychological Gothic romance' genre — the template that runs from Victoria Holt through Phyllis Whitney to contemporary domestic suspense. Du Maurier filed a plagiarism lawsuit over a Brazilian novel, O Sucessor, with suspicious similarities, and won. The name 'Rebecca' became culturally associated with a particular kind of dangerous, captivating femininity.
Firsts & Innovations
Established the template for the modern Gothic romance: plain heroine, dark mysterious hero, great house, secret that rewrites everything
One of the first novels to make the absent character the most powerful presence in the narrative
Pioneered the female Gothic as a genre in which the house itself is a psychological antagonist
Demonstrated that popular commercial fiction and literary psychological complexity were not mutually exclusive
Cultural Impact
Hitchcock's 1940 adaptation remains one of his most celebrated films and introduced the novel to a global audience
The novel's central question — 'How can I compete with the perfect first wife?' — became a shorthand for second-wife anxiety
Mrs. Danvers became the archetype of the Gothic housekeeper, endlessly referenced and parodied
The opening line is consistently cited in lists of the greatest first sentences in English literature
Ben Wheatley's 2020 Netflix adaptation brought the novel to new audiences, with debate about its faithfulness
Banned & Challenged
Rebecca has not been widely banned, but it has been challenged in some schools for sexual content (Rebecca's implied affairs), the protagonist's complicity in concealing a murder, and what some critics have read as a homophobic portrayal of Mrs. Danvers's devotion to Rebecca. Du Maurier herself rejected the 'lesbian' reading of the Mrs. Danvers character while acknowledging the intensity of the devotion she depicted.