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Rebecca is the New Testament spelling of Rebekah, see Romans 9:10.
Rebecca is a novel by Daphne Du Maurier, published in 1938 and probably the author's best-known work.
It has become a modern classic of English literature, though it is clearly inspired by the Victorian tradition, and particularly by Jane Eyre. Rebecca may also have been influenced by Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The story concerns an innocent orphaned young woman - we never find out her name - who, while working as a companion on the French Riviera, is swept off her feet by a wealthy Englishman, Maximilian de Winter, marries him, and becomes mistress of his house, the splendid Cornish estate Manderley.
Only on their return to England does she realise how difficult it will be to lay to rest the ghost of his first wife, the eponymous Rebecca, who was drowned in a sailing accident. Manderley's domineering housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, is one of the best-known female villains in literature.
Mrs Danvers, who was profoundly devoted to Rebecca, does her best to undermine the new mistress, although others, such as Frank, the estate manager, show friendship towards her. One of Mrs Danvers first schemes to undermine the new Mrs de Winter is to suggest a particular gown for a costume ball. Mrs de Winter is unaware the gown is the same one worn by Rebecca - and her arrival at the ball provokes Max into a fury.
The morning after, a boat is washed up on the nearby beach. The new Mrs de Winter confronts Max at the beach, and discovers that Rebecca was not the paragon she had seemed - Max confesses to having hated her, having murdered her and sinking her boat, with the body in it, in order to prevent discovery.
The investigation into Rebecca's death reveals that she was suffering from a terminal illness, and it is generally believed that she committed suicide. While Max and his wife are away from home, Manderley burns by the hand of the now-deranged Mrs Danvers.
The novel has inspired many dramatisations and adaptations. A mediocre "sequel", Mrs de Winter, was written in the 1980s by Susan Hill. A "prequel", Rebecca's Tale, was written by Sally Beauman. And a modern version, The Other Rebecca, by Maureen Freely.
The best known version of the story in popular culture is a 1940 film version, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was produced by David O. Selznick and won two Academy Awards:
It was nominated for nine others:
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