Rebecca: A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation

by Daphne du Maurier

A BBC full cast dramatisation of this enduring classic, starring Christopher Cazenove and Janet Maw.

Arriving at Manderley, the young Mrs de Winter finds the beautiful house and its occupants haunted by memories of Rebecca, her new husband's first wife.

Genres: Audiobook, Classics, Mystery, Romance, Fiction

1 pages, Audio CD

Published July 5, 2018

About the author

Daphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907 at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel, née Beaumont. In many ways her life resembles a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby, and her mother was a maternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. She and her sisters were indulged as a children and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.

She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.

She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.

Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.

While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.

In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.

In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.

Reviews

[Ieva Andriuskeviciene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great classic book and beautiful BBC adaptation.

[Alyson Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

without a doubt, in my top ten books of all time.

I have a love/hate relationship with Mrs Danvers !

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t know if my library played me, but this is the exact edition advertised. It was a little over 3 hours. Not a full cast. I wasn’t expecting an abridged version. Everyone talks about how great this book is... how? The end just cut off with the house burning. The guy got away with murder. No suspense whatsoever. Is it worth hunting down the physical copy and reading that because clearly I’m missing something.

[Aatqa Arham]

pharmacology is brain numbing, listened to this to stay awake. now onto the lord of the rings 1981 adaptation- dire straits call for drastic measures.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do people insist on not telling more people about how salacious and juicy some classics are? This was so gossipy and murder mystery and timeless. REALLY GOOD!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook Daphne du Maurier BBC collection.
listened to The Birds dramatisation - interesting but I think I'd prefer to read the unabridged story instead of a play.

[Katelyn Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adored this book (and the audiobook narrator). The story was full of twists that had my jaw dropped on multiple occasions. At the beginning, Mrs. DeWinter (the otherwise unnamed narrator) reminds me vaguely of Daisy Buchanan—a potentially good, kind, and young woman in an unfortunate marriage. By the end of the novel, I was shocked at her character. I did think the ending was a bit of a letdown; I wanted MORE from the end, a better conclusion of what happens next. Overall very good and a book I would recommend highly!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting, and the audio was well done (despite not being full cast as advertised), but I was surprised when this finally came in from my library as it was only 3 hours- quite abridged. I feel like I got enough of the story to appreciate a movie/show version, and know I'm not interested enough to read the full text.

[thebookfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to on Libby

I feel like I’ve listened to this before…

Anyway, the story gets 5 stars while the recording itself gets 4. Firstly, I didn’t listen to a full cast dramatisation but I can’t find the correct listing on Goodreads so this is close enough. My main gripe is that the recording ends so abruptly, it was bizarre! And then there was approx 7 mins of silence 😂 It honestly felt as through they simply forgot to add the final chapter or epilogue.

Regardless, the other 3 hours were amazing. I REALLY should listen to an unabridged version at some point …

[mina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the abridged version to see if I was ready to commit to the full novel. Very much giving Jane Eyre. This was pretty good, but you get the sense, naturally, that a lot of details were missing. The plot twist did catch me off guard though and the ending was pretty fast paced. All in all, will be reading the full length story.

[Tabi A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was worried I wouldn't finish this novel in time to discuss for book club so listened to this abridged BBC version.It was excellent! Still pulled directly from the source material, just in condensed form. Mrs. Danvers reminds me of a gothic Regina George 😂

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good audiobook, a little fast though. I didn't like the ending but great for a quick read and easy to listen to.

[Abby Sharkis · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars but had no idea i was listening to the abridged version ughhhhhh. makes sense why it was 3 hours instead of 14. really enjoyed it though so will defo listen to the real one.

[Sandra Hibbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. It was a quick book. Enjoyed that it was the correct length. So many stories seem to drag on endlessly. There were twists to keep me interested. I could feel the main ladies pain being the second wife with everyone going on and on about Rebecca. Of course, it was not all what it seemed. I can see why this is a classic. Definately a solid read. Not my favorite ever but good = 8 out of 10.

[Michelle Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself was fine. I have more issues with this particular listing for this addition of Rebecca. It’s stated as a full cast dramatization and it’s not. It also has 7 minutes of silence at the end, at the time I thought there was an error (because the story ends suddenly), some sort of publication details or even “The End” said verbally would make that clearer.

[Ashley Crouch · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was an abridged version of the book. It was fun to listen to, but I feel like I definitely missed something. The end just kind of chops off abruptly. It is not read by a full cast.

[M H · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A RIDE

[The Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is abridged, the voice acting was decent, book itself got my attention so I'll be heading to the full version now

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a condensed version of the original novel. I'm intrigued enough to pick up the full version. The narrator was engaging.

[Cara Noyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one of my favorites in high school, so I had to revisit it. The audiobook was well produced!