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Rebecca

A BBC Radio 4 reading

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Rebecca

By: Daphne du Maurier
Narrated by: Harriet Walters
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About this listen

'There was Manderley, our Manderley, secretive and silent as it had always been...Time itself could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls, nor the site itself, a jewel in the hollow of a hand.'

When Maxim de Winter brings his shy new bride to his beautiful stately home on the Cornwall coast, it seems like all her dreams have come true. The terrace slopes to the lawns, the lawns stretch to the sea, and the gardens are full of scented flowers.

But she soon finds that Manderley is haunted by the shadow of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who died the year before. It was Rebecca who made the house and gardens the showpiece of the county and her memory is revered by all, especially the housekeeper Mrs Danvers.

As the hot summer fades, the mystery of Rebecca's death grows, weaving a spell of fear and foreboding. In a series of climactic revelations, Rebecca's memory is finally laid to rest.... but at what cost?

©1995 BBC Audiobooks Ltd; (P)2000 BBC Audiobooks Ltd Classics Gothic Horror Scary
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Die Geschichte war ganz interessant geschrieben, aber leider hat die schlechte Tonqualität (als wäre alles von einem alten Plattenspieler abgespielt worden), das Erlebnis kaputt gemacht.

Schlechte Tonqualität

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Harriet Walters fantastically narrates this tragic tale of secrets, lies, murder, resentment and misplaced love. Walters is a one woman cast entirely embodying our anonymous narrator to De Winter and the obsessive Mrs Danvers, convincingly.

Brilliant

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The soft soothing voice walking us through the cruel and manipulative thoughts of the former Mrs DeWinter as each clue is uncovered. This twisted story followed by the several shock moments which are preluded by the mysterious and eerie settings and characters make a really energetic and interesting listening experience while driving to and from work.

Perfect performance.

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If you want a short cut to “say you read Rebecca” this is an entertaining way to do it as it gives the bare bones of the story but not the atmosphere, which is the whole point of the book. Having since bought the longer version read by Anna Massey, then you realise how much better the original and the performance are- Harriet makes the character feel too young and naive, even at the beginning so you’re not really surprised she’s treated the way she is ie you’re given an alternate reason for Mrs Danvers’ behavior. Anna enthuses the older narrator with strength and dignity and the other voices are excellent. In short, if you’re stuck for time then you could do worse and listen to this, but the longer version is a lot more sinister and really really worth the ‘effort’.

Very good.

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Rebecca is a wonderful story, of course. And Harriet Walter is an excellent narrator, all in all. But I do wish in this instance that she had researched the pronunciation of Manderley before she began reading. It is is not pronounced like Mandalay (as in The Road to Mandalay), but with a final syllable like Berkeley or medley ('lee'). As the name occurs dozens of times in the novel (including in the famous opening sentence), the mispronunciation is, to say the least, jarring.

Spoilt by mispronunciation of an important name

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