Du Maurier, Daphne (1907 - 1989) | Daphne Du Maurier (Novel Date 1938)
DAPHNE DU MAURIER (NOVEL DATE 1938)
SOURCE: du Maurier, Daphne. "Chapter 1." In Rebecca. 1938. Reissue edition, pp. 1-4. New York: Avon Books, 1994.
The following excerpt comprises the first chapter of Rebecca, which was first published in 1938.
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and a chain upon the gate. I called in my dream to the lodge-keeper, and had no answer, and peering closer through the rusted spokes of the gate I saw that the lodge was uninhabited.
No smoke came from the chimney, and the little lattice windows gaped forlorn. Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had...
[The entire page is 1469 words long]
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