Book Club- Rebecca
The book we read this month was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. 
This book is considered a classic and is definitely worth a read. It starts out a little slowly but the book club ladies and I all ended up enjoying it. It’s the story of a young women (whose name we never learn) who falls for an older widower, Maxim de Winter. They meet in Monte Carlo where she is a traveling companion for an old women and he is on vacation trying to escape the memory of his late wife. He proposes, they get married, travel through Europe and return to his large estate, Manderlay. This is when the story really beings! The main character has a lot to learn when it comes to being “the lady of the house” and the story is already more interesting as we watch her try to assimilate into high society, which includes dealing with the grumpy and vindictive head maid Mrs. Danvers. There is a sense of mystery as the story unveils and the reader is left to wonder if Rebecca is still haunting this old house. There is a twist that I didn’t see coming (i won’t spoil it) which made the whole story more exciting. I love the descriptions of the grounds and the house that was itself a character in the book. While I didn’t like a lot of the characters, the overall story and imagery made up for that. Once you get past the first few chapters, this book is vivid and exciting!
Book rating: Recommend and would read again, (8/10)
Since part of the regular routine at Manderlay was afternoon tea, I decided to create a menu based on that. Here’s what we had:
- Beet Toasts
- Watercress sandwiches
- Fresh fruit
- Coconut and Chocolate Scones
- London Fog tea cocktail (recipe below)
i tried to set the table as I would imagine an afternoon English tea to be, with a lace tablecloth. I even brought out my grandmother’s china with matching teacups and saucers, plates and teapot. It was fun to have a chance to use it all and made me realize I shouldn’t wait for a special occasion to using it again! The book club ladies seemed to really enjoy it. 🙂
Have you read this book? What are some of your favorite classics? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to check out my Pinterest board for the other books we’ve read and Betsy’s blog for her take on the book.
Next time we’ll be reading The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols, just in case you want to follow along!
Rather than share a beer or wine review, I wanted to make a cocktail with tea. It only seemed fitting for a book club tea party! i’d heard of a drink called a London Fog which is hot milk and earl grey tea, so I used that as my starting point. Honey is added for sweetness and a little brandy for warmth.
Start by heating the milk over medium in a small pot. Add the tea bags to steep as the milk warms for about 5 minutes. I recommend tying the strings of the teabags around a spoon that lies across the pot. This will make retrieving the bags later a lot easier (as someone that DIDN’T do that the first time around, trust me on this).
Turn down the milk to low if it starts to simmer. You don’t want to scald the milk, but just heat it up. After 5 minutes remove the bags and add the honey. Stir the milk until the honey is dissolved.
Take it off the heat and stir in the brandy. Now pour into mugs or teacups and enjoy. This will make 2-3 drinks, depending on the size of your cups.
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk
- 2 earl grey teabags
- 5 teaspoons honey
- 1 1/2 ounces brandy
Instructions
- Heat milk over medium in a small pot.
- Add the tea bags to steep as the milk warms for 5 minutes. Turn down the milk to low if it starts to simmer. After 5 minutes remove the bags and add the honey. Stir the milk until the honey is dissolved.
- Take it off the heat and stir in the brandy.
- Pour into mugs or teacups and enjoy. This will make 2-3 drinks, depending on the size of your cups.
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