Daphne du Maurier, página 2 de 6

''The apathy of Sunday lay upon the streets. Houses were closed, withdrawn. "They don''t know," he thought, "those people inside, how one gesture of mine, now, at this minute, might alter their world. A knock on the door, and someone answers - a woman yawning, an old man in carpet slippers, a child sent by its parents in irritation; and according to what I will, what I decide, their whole future will be decided ...Sudden murder. Theft. Fire." It was as simple as that.'' In this collection of suspenseful tales in which fantasies, murderous dreams and half-forgotten worlds are exposed, Daphne du Maurier explores the boundaries of reality and imagination. Her characters are caught at those moments when the delicate link between reason and emotion has been stretched to the breaking point. Often chilling, sometimes poignant, these stories display the full range of Daphne du Maurier''s considerable talent.

Classic / British English After the death of his beautiful wife Rebecca, Maxim de Winter goes to Monte Carlo to forget the past. There he meets and marries a quiet young woman and takes her back to Manderley, his family home in Cornwall. But will the memory of Rebecca destroy the new marriage?

Los cuentos que componen esta antología, representan el talento joven de una mujer que llegaría no solo a ser una de las autoras más leídas del planeta, sino una referencia dentro del género de la intriga gótica, elemento que forma parte de algunas de sus más inquietantes narraciones, como la que presta su título al libro. Narraciones atmosféricas, perturbadoras, elegantes, son un retorno al inmenso talento de Daphne du Maurier para encontrar el lado más oscuro y escalofriante de las situaciones cotidianas, mostrándonos con una prosa impecable que lo más inesperado, sobrecogedor e inolvidable, puede sucederle a cualquiera.

Anoche soñe que volvía a Manderley." Con esta frase Daphne du Maurier nos introduce en el universo de una mansión en apariencia idílica, con rosaledas y caminos bordeados de rododendros, y praderas que terminan en una pequeña cala. Es la casa de Maxim de Winter, en la que vivia con su esposa Rebecca hasta que esta murio ahogada en el mar y a la que ahora regresa con su nueva e inocente mujer. Esta pronto descubrira, sin embargo, que Manderley no es el mundo perfecto que ella cree: alli vive tambien la inquietante señora Danvers, el ama de llaves, quien no solo no acepta a la joven, sino que constantemente le recuerda la figura de Rebecca, la unica e insustituible señora De Winter. Rebecca, la encantadora, inteligente y segura Rebecca, cuyo rastro esta presente en todas las habitaciones, en cada jarron, en cada cuadro, en los membretes del papel de cartas. Rebecca, la criatura mas hermosa del mundo. Rebecca, la presencia que recorre Manderley y el eco de cuya risa resuena aun en los pasillos cerrados de la casa. Una risa que en el fondo, oculto entre los pliegues de su sonido cristalino, esconde el sabor amargo de los secretos inconfesables. Desde su publicacion, hace ya setenta años, Rebecca no ha dejado de cautivar a generaciones de lectores, fenomeno al que no fue ajeno su

Daphne Du Maurier'The iron of the bridge felt hot under my hand. The sun had been upon it all day. Gripping hard with my hands I lifted myself on to the bar and gazed down steadily on the water passing under...I thought of places I would never see, and women I should never love. A white sea breaking on a beach, the slow rustle of a shivering tree, the hot scent of grass...I breathed deeply and I felt as though the waiting water rose up in front of me and would not let me go' As far as his father, an accomplished poet, is concerned, Richard will never amount to anything, and so he decides to take his fate into his own hands. But at the last moment, he is saved by Jake, who appeals to Richard not to waste his life. Together they set out for adventure, jumping aboard the first ship they see and working their passage to Norway and around Europe, eventually to bohemian Paris, where Richard meets Hesta, a captivating music student...

Classic / British English (Available February 2008) After the death of his beautiful wife Rebecca, Maxim de Winter goes to Monte Carlo to forget the past. There he meets and marries a quiet young woman and takes her back to Manderley, his family home in Cornwall. But will the memory of Rebecca destroy the new marriage?

D ès les premières heures à Manderley, somptueuse demeure de l''ouest de l''Angleterre, le souvenir de celle qu''elle a remplacée s''impose à la jeune femme que vient d''épouser Maxim De Winter. Rebe