Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Here's a fun fact: Rebecca was used by German soldiers as a code source during the second World War. Presumeably they didn't include the first chapter as a source though, as I can't imagine German high command had the need to send passionate descriptions of trees to each other.

Rebecca was one book that I'd been meaning to read for a long time, and it didn't disappoint me - but the first chapter just seemed like a gratuitous attempt to beef up the word count (and trust me, I know all about that). It just stood out - it had no real bearing on anything that came after and really irritated me!

Despite that, I did enjoy the book. I can see parallels with Jane Eyre, although I think I prefer Jane to the unnamed narrator here. I absolutely identified with the insecurity and unease of the narrator, and the story sucked me in completely, even if at times it felt a bit melodramatic. But I still prefer Jane Eyre. She has more substance to her.