Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (Arrow, £5.99 in UK)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." The elegance of that oh so famous first sentence grabs your attention instantly - and once hooked, you are reeled in with sophisticated ease as the 400 pages of Du Mauner brilliant chiller unfurl before you like mists lifting off a mountain" path. It's almost 50 years old, but this grande dame of romantic fiction puts everything that's been written since in the shade, if not to shame; never, surely, can escapism, have been carried off with such style.