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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
The first part of the book was 3 stars, the middle was 1 star and the end was 3.5 stars.
Spoilers ahead
I knew after Jem sold the horse to the squire that the vicar was a bad guy. When she was nearly naked in the carriage with him and he didn't show any modesty or embarrassment... my bad guy sirens went off.
Also I don't like Jem, at all! He's not attractive. Mary gets on my nerves.
The only redeeming factor was the ending when she watches the ship wreck and the drownings, then everything turns on its head. Before that, I was not entertained.
I also find it hard to believe that 4-5 men out of the 7 or so with names and dialogue are attracted/in love with Mary. Just ridiculous.
In conclusion...
plot- pretty good
characters-eww
twist- predictable
setting- the moors... (eye roll)
last chapter- lame
Don't waste your time.
Spoilers ahead
I knew after Jem sold the horse to the squire that the vicar was a bad guy. When she was nearly naked in the carriage with him and he didn't show any modesty or embarrassment... my bad guy sirens went off.
Also I don't like Jem, at all! He's not attractive. Mary gets on my nerves.
The only redeeming factor was the ending when she watches the ship wreck and the drownings, then everything turns on its head. Before that, I was not entertained.
I also find it hard to believe that 4-5 men out of the 7 or so with names and dialogue are attracted/in love with Mary. Just ridiculous.
In conclusion...
plot- pretty good
characters-eww
twist- predictable
setting- the moors... (eye roll)
last chapter- lame
Don't waste your time.
Classic suspense that I finished in one day.
A perfect read for Cornwall, when you’re camping in Padstow. Short and sweet read, a good plot with fun twists. I’m very excited to have lunch at the real Jamaica Inn again after reading this!
The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother's dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn's dark power. But never did Mary dream that she would become hopelessly ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within its crumbling walls -- or that a handsome, mysterious stranger would so incite her passions ... tempting her to love a man whom she dares not trust.
This was a fantastic dip back into another classic novel from renowned author Daphne Du Maurier for me. Following a buddy read a few months back of Rebecca, a group of lovely bookstagrammers including the wonderful @candlelitcreations, decided that we should give this one a shot and it did not disappoint. This book was filled with tantalizing suspense and mystery with the perfect backdrop of a dark English Moor that set the mood for a perfect late night read.
I think a major strength of Maurier is creating such dynamic characters who are perfectly complex that they do a great job standing up to the test of time. I really enjoyed the shift in main heroines compared to Rebecca as the young Mary is refreshingly feisty compared to the women of her time you often find in literature.
Is this a bit predictable? Sure. But I don’t think it distracts from the solidity of the story itself and I think the writing coming from Maurier more than makes up for it. If you are looking for a classic that stands out differently compared to the usual Austen’s or Brontë’s, I think you should consider Daphne Du Maurier!
This was a fantastic dip back into another classic novel from renowned author Daphne Du Maurier for me. Following a buddy read a few months back of Rebecca, a group of lovely bookstagrammers including the wonderful @candlelitcreations, decided that we should give this one a shot and it did not disappoint. This book was filled with tantalizing suspense and mystery with the perfect backdrop of a dark English Moor that set the mood for a perfect late night read.
I think a major strength of Maurier is creating such dynamic characters who are perfectly complex that they do a great job standing up to the test of time. I really enjoyed the shift in main heroines compared to Rebecca as the young Mary is refreshingly feisty compared to the women of her time you often find in literature.
Is this a bit predictable? Sure. But I don’t think it distracts from the solidity of the story itself and I think the writing coming from Maurier more than makes up for it. If you are looking for a classic that stands out differently compared to the usual Austen’s or Brontë’s, I think you should consider Daphne Du Maurier!
Let me start by saying that DuMaurier is an amazing writer. Her landscape descriptions are so beautiful and capture the setting of Cornwall so wonderfully.
I love Cornwall and loved reading about places that are familiar to me.
I enjoyed the novel throughout but found it really got into its stride in the last 75 pages or so. This was when the real thriller elements came in to play for me. I really felt the tension building, particularly in the scene where Mary returns to Jamaica Inn to find Joss Merlyn and Aunt Patience murdered.
I was doubtful of the trustworthiness of the vicar from Altarnum from the beginning, and when the big reveal came I was pleased to know my instincts were right!!
I loved Jem as a character and found the scenes with him in quite entertaining.
Mary was quite a strong character throughout but I found it hard to connect with her and didn’t have as much sympathy for her as I’d have liked. Even though she was involved in a lot of action in the novel, she still felt sort of passive to me.
However, it was a great novel and another example of DuMaurier’s skill and mastery of the novel form. But, it definitely does not surpass ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ for me - my favourite novel of hers that I’ve read so far!
I love Cornwall and loved reading about places that are familiar to me.
I enjoyed the novel throughout but found it really got into its stride in the last 75 pages or so. This was when the real thriller elements came in to play for me. I really felt the tension building, particularly in the scene where Mary returns to Jamaica Inn to find Joss Merlyn and Aunt Patience murdered.
I was doubtful of the trustworthiness of the vicar from Altarnum from the beginning, and when the big reveal came I was pleased to know my instincts were right!!
I loved Jem as a character and found the scenes with him in quite entertaining.
Mary was quite a strong character throughout but I found it hard to connect with her and didn’t have as much sympathy for her as I’d have liked. Even though she was involved in a lot of action in the novel, she still felt sort of passive to me.
However, it was a great novel and another example of DuMaurier’s skill and mastery of the novel form. But, it definitely does not surpass ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ for me - my favourite novel of hers that I’ve read so far!
This one took me forever to get through because I tried listening to it as an audiobook first, and the narrator made Mary sound like a flustered old woman. I couldn’t get past it. Once I switched to ebook it was much easier to appreciate Du Maurier’s style and the mystery of the book. It was a little predictable, I thought, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
This lesser-known work by the author of Rebecca kept me entertained throughout. As I learn more about the Gothic literary tradition, it was exciting to recognize common tropes and use them to make predictions for the plot.
There is a strong undercurrent of old-fashioned gender norms and sexism that tampered my enjoyment. I am especially disappointed with the ending in that regard, as the protagonist goes from an independent woman who "can do the work of a man" on a farm, to a woman who puts her own dreams aside to follow a man.
The plot: Mary Yellen moves in with her aunt and uncle at Jamaica Inn after the death of her mother. The Inn takes no guests and has a bad reputation around town and the inn-keeper, Uncle Joss Merlin, is a violent and belligerent man. Mary is determined to learn what shady goings-on are giving the inn such a bad reputation and to get her aunt out of such a miserable situation.
There is a strong undercurrent of old-fashioned gender norms and sexism that tampered my enjoyment. I am especially disappointed with the ending in that regard, as the protagonist goes from an independent woman who "can do the work of a man" on a farm, to a woman who puts her own dreams aside to follow a man.
The plot: Mary Yellen moves in with her aunt and uncle at Jamaica Inn after the death of her mother. The Inn takes no guests and has a bad reputation around town and the inn-keeper, Uncle Joss Merlin, is a violent and belligerent man. Mary is determined to learn what shady goings-on are giving the inn such a bad reputation and to get her aunt out of such a miserable situation.
An excellent classic by Daphne du Maurier. Didn't really buy the romance, though.
This book is terrible. I picked it up because the author’s best known work (Rebecca) is a long-standing favourite of mine, so I wanted to try some of her other work. This doesn’t even feel like the same author, unless she wrote it in a fugue state. The characters are barely sketched out, none are likeable in any sense, the plot is bizarre and rambling and I overall couldn’t wait for it to be finished, and it’s a short book. Skip this and read Rebecca instead, at least that book is amazing.
