Library Corner

This is very much a romantic novel.  The story is set around Bathsheba who has 3 suitors, Boldwood, Sergeant Troy and of course, Gabriel Oak.  It is set in the imaginary Wessex and the book is rich in description of this beautiful English countryside.  After Gabriel, a farmer, proposes marriage to Bathsheba and she turns him down, she moves away to Weatherfield where she inherits her uncle’s farm and becomes a farmer herself.  Oak on the other hand looses his farm after tragically his sheep are killed and so he ends up working for Bathsheba.  Of the other two suitors, Mr Boldwood is a self-declared bachelor until he encounters Bathsheba and Sergeant Troy is the would-be husband of Fanny Robin, a maid who also worked for Bathsheba. 

Among the characters there is also Caine Ball who becomes an assistant shepherd to Oak on Bathsheba’s farm.  The book is written with some good humours which adds to its appeal.  For example, I particularly liked the story of how Caine got his name.  Apparently his mother was not very religious and got confused with the story of Caine and Abel, thinking it was Abel who had killed Caine, so she named her newborn Caine, as the good son.  I found this rather amusing.  There is also more humour in Fanny Robin going to the wrong church for her wedding.  William Boldwood is the repressed farmer who becomes obsessed with Bathsheba after she sends him a Valentine card in jest.  Our heroine Bathsheba is a strong, unconventional woman, especially for her time.  She is intelligent though poorly educated and beautiful.  Gabriel is very protective over Bathsheba, even though she has marries Troy and he remains her loyal friend.  The twists and turns with Fanny Robin, Troy and Bathsheba keep the story going and the end is satisfying, as a true love story should be.

There are a number of interesting themes that run through this book.  We experience social mobility through the characters.  Gabriel moves downwards after he looses his farm while Bathsheba becomes upwardly mobile through her inheritance of the farm and Troy also moves upwards but through marriage.  Class differences are very apparent throughout and the the novel depicts very real imagery of England in the 1800′s. There are some very descriptive scenes too including the tragic death of the sheep and the big fire.

The readers are left wondering if Bathsheba would be happy in her final choices, given her drive and passion for life.  In our book club discussion we questioned whether or not she would be truly happy or if she had ‘settled’.  I found this to be a truly satisfying read.

This is a truly remarkable book.  From the very first famous ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley’, I was hooked.  The story centres around the first wife of Max De Winter, Rebecca who has died in a tragic boating accident, and is told through the innocent or even naive eyes of his second wife, whose name is never revealed to the reader.  she is simply known as the second Mrs De Winter.  The setting is around Manderley, the great estate of Max De Winter, where the presence of Rebecca is very much still felt.  It has been preserved as Rebecca left it, by the creepy Head House Maid, Mrs Danvers.  There is something sinister about Mrs Danvers who preserves the West Wing of the house in exactly the way Rebecca left it, and she does so I think, without the knowledge of Max.  It is eveident throughout the book that Mrs Danvers is not altogether ‘there’ with her obsession with Rebecca.  There were moments when I considered that bisexuality was being hinted at by the author.  What is also interesting is that the ‘hired help’ has more power in the household affair than Max himself.  For example, there is a scene when Max gives clear orders that his arrival back to Manderley with his new bride is not to be met by the entire house staff , and yet Mrs Danvers deliberately defies him (perhaps to embarass the new Mrs De Winter or to make her feel uncomfortable since she has married above her social class).  As for the characters in the book, the second Mrs De Winter becomes obsessed with Rebecca because Manderley is Rebecca.  It is set exactly as Rebecca left it.  The cutoms and traditions of the house remain as she left them; ‘tea time’, ‘menu’s’ all have been preserved.  The second Mrs De Winter is haunted by Rebecca, both in her dreams and in her day to day reality.  She is clearly trying to compete with the memory of a dead woman and comes across as weak and timid.  She has more importance in her imagination and her dreams than in what is actually happening around her.  Max De Winter comes across as a hero at times, victim at times.  His proposal to the second Mrs De Witer came as a surprise to me and I wondered what his motives were for marrying her.  She was very much the opposite to his first wife and later in the book, we begin to discover that perhaps that is why he married this simple, plain young girl.  The descriptions of Manderley are breathtaking and if you close your eyes, you can smell the open air as it is described.  There are many powerful descriptions throughout the book including for example, the great fire.  It made me wish that I could go to Manderley and experience it for myself.

I have heard that the Hitchcock film of this is also very good.  I have not seen it.  Most in our book club did enjoy this one.  For me, it was also a personal journey as it was something linked very much to my late mother (may she rest in peace) who had mentioned Rebecca and Manderley to me when I was very young.  I was not disappointed at what I found.