In The Housewife, Barelli modernizes and subverts classic Gothic tropes established by Daphne du Maurier’s seminal 1938 novel, Rebecca. Du Maurier’s novel created a template for domestic suspense, centered on a naive, unnamed second wife who lives in the shadow of her husband’s beautiful, deceased first wife, Rebecca. This ghostly presence is amplified by the menacing housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who remains pathologically devoted to her former mistress and psychologically torments the narrator. This dynamic, in which the second wife’s happiness is marred by the lingering presence of her predecessor, became a cornerstone of the genre. 

The Housewife is a homage to du Maurier’s earlier novel, particularly in the character of Marie, who deliberately evokes Du Maurier’s antagonist Mrs. Danvers. The housekeeper’s sly behavior, apparent idolization of Deborah, and contempt for Jodie echo the way Mrs. Danvers constantly undermines the new wife’s confidence, preserving Rebecca’s room as a shrine and manipulating the protagonist at every turn. However, Barella draws on these familiar Gothic conceits only to subvert the reader’s expectations. Marie’s claim that Jodie “will never, ever live up to [Deborah]” (135) is a ruse, concealing the hatred that led her to kill Jodie’s sister. 

Barelli also recasts the helpless second wife of du Maurier’s novel as a cunning, unreliable narrator with a violent agenda. Although Roy’s dead first wife, Deborah, is a constant presence, her memory empowers Jodie rather than intimidates her. While du Maurier’s nameless narrator forgives her husband when she eventually learns Rebecca goaded him into killing her, Jodie’s entire purpose is to avenge her sister. Although Roy turns out to be innocent of Deborah’s murder, Jodie frames him as a punishment for his psychological abuse of her sister. Unlike the timid narrator of Rebecca, Jodie is a calculating and aggressive figure who uses this hostility to fuel her mission, transforming a story of victimization into one of vengeful empowerment.