The Big Read: Rebecca -- Daphne du Maurier Chapters 25-27

Chapter 25 -- In which it is decided that the whole crew will head to London to meet with the mysterious Doctor Baker.

The truth screamed in their faces and they did not see.  They all stood there, staring at one another, and they did not understand.  I dared not look at them.  I dared not betray my knowledge.

I'm with her, man.  How have they not put two and two together?  Woman's specialist, then she wanted to speak with Favell, who was her lover...  DUH.

"Is my word enough for you?" said Maxim, turning to Colonel Julyan.  And for the first time Colonel Julyan hesitated.  I saw him glance at Frank.  And a flush came over Maxim's face.  I saw the little pulse beating on his forehead.

That must have been just crushing for Maxim. 

I held out my arms to him and he came to me like a child.  I put my arms round him and held him.  We did not say anything for a long time.  I held him and comforted him as though he were Jasper.

And I didn't detect any irony in that statement.  Granted, comforting a dog is quite different than absentmindedly petting a dog, but still.

Just when I thought there were no laughs left in this book:

"Giles and I think it much more likely that if those holes weren't done by the rocks they were done deliberately, by some tramp or other.  A Communist perhaps.  There are heaps of them about.  Just the sort of thing a Communist would do."

As usual, poor Beatrice, trying to do the Right Thing but instead, putting her foot in it.

Chapter 26 -- In which the description of London provides a contrast to Manderley, and the de Winters, Julyan and Favell meet with Doctor Baker.

While I can't imagine that she won't be back to Manderley before leaving forever and ever, the beginning of this chapter felt like a farewell.

Re:  Baker's information -- Oh, wow.  Rebecca set Maxim up.  While I can't go so far as to say that she forced his hand, she did goad him into it.  She wouldn't have wanted to go the other way.

Now I really do feel bad for him.  I, too, fell into all of the traps this darn book had to offer.

Chapter 27 -- In which Mrs. Danvers gets her revenge.

I think he's right -- Rebecca did win.  Not just because she tormented him (and then, in turn, his new wife) from Beyond the Grave, but because he ended up losing the one thing that he'd always loved, too.

I rather want to turn to the beginning and start again. 

Previous posts:

Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Chapters 10-12
Chapters 13-15
Chapters 16-18
Chapters 19-21
Chapters 22-24
Full Schedule

Other reader/bloggers:

The Leaky Dinghy
Reading with Becky
There's always time for a book

Comments

[Gail]

Oh. What got me all excited about the art was that I realized that it was another parallel between Rebecca and Jane Eyre. Both Mrs. deW2 and Jane shared art as an interest. I didn't want to explain that early on, because once I did, then I was afraid some of the Rebecca story would be given away--that Maxim had a secret regarding his wife, that there might be a fire.

I definitely felt Mrs. deW2 went full circle, becoming a companion and caretaker. I hadn't actually thought of Maxim as a petty tyrant, but in terms of neediness, I can buy that.

And, yes, I felt that the nomadic existence we see at the beginning of the book is taking place well after the timeline of the the narrative and that the deWinters are established in a barren existence, including childlessness.

But "the marriage was only consummated in those last chapters"??? That surprises me, too. While we never get any hot and heavy sex scenes, it seems to me that this neurotic, jealous young woman would have dwelt on the lack of physical affection from her husband if it had never occurred. Even before we find out about Rebecca's sexual carryings on, she seemed like an overtly sensual person and Mrs. deW2 would have had some kind of distress if she had never gotten anything from Maxim at all. Surely she would have been much more unhappy as she approached her life at Manderley. Surely she would have realized that something was very, very wrong.

[Elizabeth]

Leila, I can't wait to see which book you pick for Feb. It's gonna be hard to top this one. You should have sandbagged a little.

It might be a little early for suggestions, but since we're all digging on the Gothic Jane Eyre derivative (and I don't mean that disparagingly) can I nominate Wide Sargasso Sea? I've heard it's the Jane Eyre prequel. Anybody read it?

[Gail]

I've read it. I didn't care for it, but that's not to say others wouldn't. It's about Rochester and Bertha out on whatever island where he met her. The style is dramatically different. I found it to be a sort of difficult book.

[Elizabeth]

Oh. Never mind, then. I like good books. And I looooooove melodrama.

[cc]

I'd just like to recommend John Sutherland's "Can Jane Eyre be Happy" (and in fact all of his "Puzzles in Victorian Fiction" books). The English prof whose office I borrow every summer had a few of them, and I wickedly borrowed them without permission and then loved them so much that I bought the rest for him.

Anyway. Sutherland covers the Rochester/Bertha thing really well over the course of a couple volumes and the rest of the books are delightful. ("If this sort of thing keeps on Literary Criticism will get a good name..." is a paraphrase of one review. The books cover: How did Lady DeBrough get to know of Elizabeth and Darcy's engagement? What did Lady Dedlock die of?, Did Heathcliffe actually kill Whatzizname or just let him die? vel. sim. I loved them, and they pushed me to read a lot of things I hadn't previously (Armadale, Mill on the Floss).

[mordena]

I've read Wide Sargasso Sea, and I liked it, though Rochester comes off less than sympathetic. It's kind of a mood piece, but I found it very interesting.

[kendal]

is their any irony in this story