The second Mrs. de Winter is a shy and naive young woman, besotted with charming and urbane Maxim de Winter. They meet and fall in love while vacationing on the Riviera, and after a speedy marriage, return to Maxim's vast English estate, Manderly. His wife is introduced to an army of servants who immediately, if subtly, display hostility towards her, as they all adored Rebecca, Max's first wife, whose death is shrouded in mystery. As the servants become more hostile, the second wife grows more fearful, until she eventually learns the secret of what really happened to Rebecca.