There’s something darker at play with the unnamed protagonist and the looming spectre of her husband’s widow, and the enchanting Mrs Danvers.

Simply put: I believe Rebecca is the superior novel, and there’s a reason it’s always on the list for classic gothic horror. And I can say I finally finished it earlier this month! Was it as good as Rebecca? Late last year, in a reading frenzy, I finally decided to start again, and read the physical copy alongside the Borrowbox audiobook narrated by Jonathan Pryce. I tried reading MCR in 2019 or 2020, but because of everything that year entailed, stopped reading halfway through, started again, stopped. In early 2018 I splurged and bought the Virago Modern Classics hardcovers of Rebecca alongside My Cousin Racheland The Birds: Short Stories after seeing the gorgeous covers in a BookTube video. After becoming obsessed with Rebecca after reading it in April 2017 and watching the movie adaptation with Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier not along after, I was interested in reading more du Maurier. My Cousin Rachelis a gothic novel by Daphne du Maurier published in 1951. When cousin Rachel announces she is to visit Philip in Cornwall, he prepare to meet his cousin Rachel with hatred in his heart. Philip, thrown off by increasingly suspicious and mentally unsound letters from Ambrose, sets out for Florence, and is only left with more questions than answers. Ambrose falls for cousin Rachel and marries her. Not really a cousin-more like a distantly related family member. One year, in an effort to cure what ails him, Ambrose sets out for Florence, Italy, and falls for his mysterious cousin Rachel. Young, rich and unworldly Philip Ashley was raised by his uncle Ambrose after his parents died. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious woman like a moth to the flame. In almost no time at all, the new widow - Philip's cousin Rachel - turns up in England. Then he suddenly dies in suspicious circumstances. But Philip's world is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in making Philip his heir, knowing he will treasure his beautiful Cornish estate. Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent cousin, Ambrose. one of her best novels, ingeniously contrived as to plot, successfully realized as to characters' KIRKUS REVIEWS

'Du Maurier has no equal' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Du Maurier is a storyteller whose sole aim is to bewitch and beguile' NEW YORK TIMES This special edition contains a foreword by the film's director and screenwriter, Roger Michell NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING RACHEL WEISZ AND SAM CLAFIN

Film tie-in of a major motion picture, starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin

Story of my cousin rachel