Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. With these words, Daphne Du Maurier opens one of the most urgently suspenseful, yet touching love stories of the twentieth century. The young, nameless narrator meets the dashing Maxim de Winter at a resort in Monte Carlo, where she is serving as a companion to a boorish, middle-aged woman. De Winter, still suffering after losing his first wife, the enigmatic and sophisticated Rebecca, sweeps the narrator off her feet, marries her, and takes her back to Manderley. Once there, she realizes fully that she cannot live up to the stylish, commanding legacy of the first Mrs. de Winter, and she is reminded of her shortcomings and awkwardness daily by the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers. Impending disaster, psychological complexity, and the love of the de Winters make Rebecca a gripping tale.