Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

I didn't, really. But this remains--for me--one of the best opening lines of any novel ever written.

I've read Du Maurier's Rebecca (and seen the movie, which begins the same way) so many times, that it's impossible any more for me to tell if I love it so much because it's a great line, or because I'm happily anticipating the story that follows.

Perhaps because Rebecca ranks in my top five favorite reads of all time, I long ago hunted down and read Du Maurier's other works. And me being, well--me, I have over the years freely and generously given my opinion of her work to those who asked and those who did not.

So maybe you can imagine my dismay late Saturday night after the conclusion of TCM's The Essentials (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and The Scapegoat), to learn from Robert Osborne that I have been mispronouncing my favorite author's name.

For years.