Rebecca
By Daphne Du Maurier

I learned my craft by writing thrillers, and du Maurier was one of my literary heroines. Every time I read her, I marvel at her skill. In terms of tension, plot, character, pace, revelation and denouement, she is a natural, and this story of a nameless second wife living under the spell of her more glamorous dead predecessor is a masterpiece. With its echoes of Jane Eyre and undertones of father-daughter Freudian obsession, Rebecca satisfies both your head and your heart.