Book · 1938
Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
A nameless second wife moves into her new husband's Cornish estate and finds she can't compete with the first one, who's been dead for a year.
What does Reddit think of Rebecca?
Rebecca is everywhere across r/suggestmeabook, and that subreddit alone accounts for most of what gets tracked here, running positive throughout. The pattern in the top-voted comments is genre confusion as the selling point. The ↑312 comment sells it as 'the best psychological thriller/mystery ever' to someone who thinks they know what a gothic romance looks like; the ↑496 comment is a reader surprised at how strongly they identified with a book written almost a century ago. It keeps turning up as a peer to prestige literary fiction rather than a genre curiosity: paired with The Secret History and East of Eden in the ↑332 list, with A Gentleman in Moscow in the ↑275 list, slotted into 1938 in a decade-by-decade best-novels rundown at ↑280. r/booksuggestions runs more mixed than r/suggestmeabook's enthusiasm, and the book turns up across horror, romance, and literary-fiction subreddits alike. Nobody agrees what shelf it belongs on. Only that it belongs somewhere good.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Genre confusion as the selling point: gothic, thriller, and literary-fiction fans all claim it
- · r/suggestmeabook as the dominant, positive-leaning venue
- · Named alongside The Secret History, East of Eden, and A Gentleman in Moscow
- · A 1938 anchor point in decade-spanning best-novels lists
Common praise
- + The ↑312 comment sells it as 'the best psychological thriller/mystery ever,' not just a gothic romance.
- + The ↑496 comment describes identifying strongly with the characters in a book written almost a century ago.
- + The ↑280 list places it as the 1938 entry in a decade-by-decade rundown of major novels, next to Doctor Zhivago and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Common criticism
- − r/booksuggestions' sentiment runs mixed, not the warm consensus r/suggestmeabook shows.
- − Several of the top comments, like ↑290, are just the title with no argument attached, padding the mention count without adding substance.
Who it's for
Come in expecting a psychological thriller more than a romance, since the ↑312 comment specifically warns it's 'not what you are thinking it will be.' If The Secret History or A Gentleman in Moscow are already on your shelf, the ↑332 and ↑275 comments put this in the same company. It also works as a jumping-off point into older fiction generally, per the ↑496 reader surprised at how well a 1938 novel held up.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Rebecca?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier Not sure what I was expecting but I was blown away at identifying so strongly with characters and a book that was written almost 100 years ago.
“The 1: Normal People by Sally Rooney Cardigan: One Day in December by Josie Silver The Last Great American Dynasty: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Exile: Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald My Tears Ricochet: The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante Mirrorball: The Unraveling of Ca…
“Rebecca - Gothic suspense novel by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938. Widely considered a classic.
“Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The secret history by Donna Tartt, East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I’m also currently reading Lonesome dove by Larry McMurtry and it will most certainly be added to best books ever read. Honourable mention is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Pride and Predjudice by…
“REBECCA!! by Daphne du Maurier. Young 2nd wife doesn't realise what she's in for when she marries an older man whose first wife died mysteriously. Not what you are thinking it will be. Best psychological thriller/mystery ever.
“Probably a Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles or Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I just loved the writing in both so much. And thank you to this subreddit for recommending both to me
“I really enjoyed Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
“Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier blew me away!
“I’m on book 96 for the year. These have been my five stars so far! The Remains of the Day - Ishiguro Into Thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven - Krakauer (both non-fic) The Safekeep - Van Der Wouden Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier I Who Have Never Known Men - Harpman James -…
“I'd recommend "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier. It's got a bit of that spooky-but not scary feel Buffy had in the first 3 seasons. It's well written and rather easy to get into.
“Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It possessed me! I love it so much.
“Rebecca Daphne DuMaurier I know it’s a classic but I only got to it fairly recently and I was worried since I knew the plot it wouldn’t live up to the hype. It was amazing; so gorgeously written and even knowing the twist it built suspense so well that I was still hanging on every word.
“Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. It's a classic for a reason.
“Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. The first line of the book just gripped me: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."
“Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. I would consider it a more modern classic. Probably my favorite book of all time.
Convinced? Pick up Rebecca
What else does r/suggestmeabook read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
Rebecca — frequently asked
Is Rebecca still worth reading in 2026?+
Yes, per the volume and tone of recent mentions. r/suggestmeabook was still recommending it as of late 2025, and the ↑496 comment describes a reader blown away by how strongly they identified with it despite it being written almost a century ago. Nothing in the displayed excerpts treats it as dated.
What does Reddit think Rebecca actually is, genre-wise?+
Depends who you ask. The ↑312 comment insists it's a psychological thriller/mystery, not the romance the setup suggests. The ↑395 comment calls it a gothic suspense novel. It also shows up in r/horrorlit and r/RomanceBooks independently, so the displayed excerpts don't converge on one genre label.
Is Rebecca similar to A Gentleman in Moscow?+
One reader thinks so. The ↑275 comment groups them together, saying they loved the writing in both, though that's a single comparison, not a pattern repeated across the other displayed excerpts.
Who is the title character in Rebecca?+
The displayed excerpts don't spell out the plot mechanics beyond the setup the ↑312 comment gives: a young second wife who doesn't realize what she's in for, marrying a man whose first wife died mysteriously. Reddit's comments treat the specifics as a discovery best left to the reader.