Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill Sinclair-Stevenson $220 DAPHNE du Maurier's 1938 novel is not what is commonly classed ''literature''. But it is a classic of its kind: overblown, melodramatic, brooding and almost camp in its use of purple prose.
Ms Hill, selected by the du Maurier estate, seems an ideal choice to carry on the story in this sequel. Her own tales are slightly old-fashioned, quirky and full of suspense, and the lack of a distinctive Hill style gives her the chameleon-like ability to conjure up that of her predecessor. It is a job she undertakes with diligence.
Rebecca dealt with the second marriage of Maxim de Winter, a man who was emotionally cold, insensitive, perhaps a little mad - and his first wife's murderer.
His new bride was a mousy, nameless creature. But their lack of colour hardly mattered as the novel was dominated by the first Mrs de Winter, the brilliant, beautiful, bad Rebecca and Manderley, the family estate.
Ms Hill has not inherited the easiest pack of characters. In terms of compassion and sympathy this lot score fairly low and she has chosen not to develop them much either.
In the 10 years since the final, dramatic, purging fire that swept through the halls of Manderley, Mr and Mrs de Winter have been in exile in Europe fleeing the imaginary witnesses that haunt Maxim.