Daphne du Maurier book summaries

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

Opening line of the novel, spoken by the narrator as she reflects on her dreams of the ruined estate.

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like perfume. That it never faded, never got stale. Then I could unlock the bottle, and live the moment all over again.”

The narrator reflects on the fleeting nature of happy memories, early in her marriage.

“I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say.”

The narrator muses on the intensity of her feelings for Maxim, contrasting them with the calm of later love.

“We can never go back again, that much is certain.”

The narrator concludes that the past cannot be revisited, near the end of the novel.

“The house was a sepulchre, our fear and suffering lay buried in the ruins.”

The narrator describes the destruction of Manderley, symbolizing the end of their ordeal.