Rebecca - Daphne DuMaurier

I should hate this book for any number of reasons. It is essentially a hack reworking of Jane Eyre, with a frustratingly dim and passive heroine and some truly rotten prose. The plot is baggy and largely predictable, and repetition is used to a ridiculous extent.

Yet, despite all these misgivings, I found myself under its spell. It's a mood piece par excellence, and I feel as though I won't be able to shed the ominous atmosphere for days.

Incidentally, I've seen the movie a few times and I think the changes made to the plot are largely improvements (other than a shift Max's role in the death of Rebecca, which was done for censorship reasons). It was impossible to read the book without picturing Olivier in my mind, perfect casting.