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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars
I have just finished this book as I write this review so it is fresh in my mind. I have to say I did enjoy this book though I did have doubts at first. I liked how the beginning was light but soon became darker as Mary had to move to Jamaica Inn and having been to the real Inn I could really picture it. I have been left with questions about a character or two and I am not quite sure I agree with the future for Mary as it was left but I found myself smiling about it anyway.
Although this is a classic it is a modern classic so there is no language to decipher other than the odd Cornish word or two. I found it easy to get into and once the mysteries of Mary's situation became clear it became more compelling to read.
I look forward to trying another Daphne du Maurier in future!
I have just finished this book as I write this review so it is fresh in my mind. I have to say I did enjoy this book though I did have doubts at first. I liked how the beginning was light but soon became darker as Mary had to move to Jamaica Inn and having been to the real Inn I could really picture it. I have been left with questions about a character or two and I am not quite sure I agree with the future for Mary as it was left but I found myself smiling about it anyway.
Although this is a classic it is a modern classic so there is no language to decipher other than the odd Cornish word or two. I found it easy to get into and once the mysteries of Mary's situation became clear it became more compelling to read.
I look forward to trying another Daphne du Maurier in future!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
"Dead men tell no tales."
The mood for Du Maurier always seems to strike me in high summer, and, without fail, I end up regretting not putting it off until late autumn, because her prose is just so wonderfully atmospheric, it's perfect for a chilly, rainy day. Jamaica Inn was no exception, and the true protagonist is the Cornish landscape—cold, lonely, vaguely threatening, but infinitely charming despite it all. I hope to someday make it to Cornwall, and the real Jamaica Inn, where du Maurier stayed, and which inspired her to write this period piece.
Admittedly, as a huge Tori Amos fan, some of the lyrics of her song of the same name, inspired by the novel, certainly made more sense after reading it, but after listening to it for many, many years, it had also subtly colored my expectations. I thought that there would be more pirate action—not that I'd necessarily have wanted more than I got, but I just thought there'd be more of it. Instead, our protagonist never sets foot in a boat, and lays eyes on the sea and treacherous craggy coastline exactly once throughout the novel, which mostly plays out at the neglected Jamaica Inn and its surrounding moors—du Maurier likes to take gothic tropes and run with them, and all the novels of hers I've read feature a foreboding abode, essentially a central character in its own right, and I absolutely love it.
Our heroine is twenty-three year old Mary, who, following her recently deceased mother's wish, sells the farm they owned and goes to live with her only surviving relative, her mother's sister. She remembers her fondly as a pretty, happy, and outgoing woman, but instead she finds Aunt Patience aged, gaunt, and nervous, under the thumb of an abusive and alcoholic husband who runs a gloomy inn that no respectable traveler would think of stopping at. The book opens with Mary sitting in a coach on her way to her new home, and the description of the landscape sets the scene for what she is about to find, and for what her life is soon to become.
"On either side of the road the country stretched interminably into space. No trees, no lanes, no cluster of cottages or hamlet, but mile upon mile of bleak moorland, dark and untraversed, rolling like a desert land to some unseen horizon. No human being could live in this wasted country, thought Mary, and remain like other people; the very children would be born twisted, like the blackened shrubs of broom, bent by the force of a wind that never ceased, blow as it would from east and west, from north and south. Their minds would be twisted, too, their thoughts evil, dwelling as they must amidst marshland and granite, harsh heather and crumbling stone. They would be born of strange stock who slept with this earth as a pillow, beneath this black sky. They would have something of the Devil left in them still.”
I suggest going in with as little prior knowledge as possible—the slow reveal of what's going on at the inn should come as a shocking surprise. The final twist seemed inevitable and very obvious from early on to me, but despite much of what the final suspense hinged on falling flat in my case, the brooding mood of the novel still affected me, and I was left feeling anxious and restless between chapters, much the same way Mary felt. I loved the way gender issues were frequently brought up, while the romance, however subtle, really didn't work for me—I don't think that du Maurier did a good job at developing it enough for the reader to empathize and understand why there's sudden talk of "love" of such magnitude that it makes the level-headed protagonist act foolishly. It evened out though, because this lackluster development makes for what I choose to interpret as an ominous ending, rather than a happy or romantic one, which worked much better for my taste. All in all, Jamaica Inn wasn't exactly what I had expected, and while I mostly enjoyed it, I felt a little detached from it (a 3.5 stars rating would be more truthful—better than The House on the Strand, not as good as My Cousin Rachel), and wouldn't recommend it as a first touching point with du Maurier—her masterpiece Rebecca still is, and always will be, the way to go.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual assault
When it came to deciding what my first Daphne du Maurier read was going to be, I knew I would save her most famous book for later. I've seen a lot of people, having read Rebecca first before working their way through du Maurier's other works, reporting that they were disappointed in the other books because it didn't live up to the wonderfulness that was Rebecca. So, I reasoned that reading through some of her other pieces first would introduce me to her writing and give me something big to look forward to, rather than a series of disappointments.
Jamaica Inn is a dark, brooding book with untrustworthy characters with questionable moral compasses, a setting that whispers with the ghosts of Wuthering Heights and a plot that steadily gains speed and tension. The brief moments of horror, insinuated and demonstrated, were genuinely haunting and effective, casting chills over me as I read. A majority of the characters were interesting and heavily layered, although there were some issues I had with their depiction and purpose. I felt this most keenly with the character of Aunt Patience, a woman who we are first introduced to through Mary's recollection of a bright, fun-loving relative, and I felt there was no real 'redemption' of sorts for her, there was no moment where we heard her voice other than from her insipid, beaten down, present self, which I found disappointing.
Mary herself is an interesting, sympathetic protagonist who doesn't succumb to a wholly morose, moping character due to her circumstance; her feelings feel right and balanced, some that I think is difficult to do at times. Her Uncle Joss also doesn't entirely collapse into the archetypal brute and Daphne du Maurier is careful of avoiding ridiculousness when it comes to his villainous conduct. The Merlyn brothers, Joss and Jem, were both very interesting characters, in my opinion, especially the latter, and their history was some of the most intriguing parts of the book.
I can see why the ending could be deemed problematic (I didn't entirely enjoy some of its phrasing) and some aspects of the climax did feel rushed but overall, I really liked this book. It didn't blow me away and I can imagine why this would let down some readers, having come to this after loving Rebecca so dearly. For me, this only makes me more excited to read Daphne du Maurier's other novels and short stories.
Jamaica Inn is a dark, brooding book with untrustworthy characters with questionable moral compasses, a setting that whispers with the ghosts of Wuthering Heights and a plot that steadily gains speed and tension. The brief moments of horror, insinuated and demonstrated, were genuinely haunting and effective, casting chills over me as I read. A majority of the characters were interesting and heavily layered, although there were some issues I had with their depiction and purpose. I felt this most keenly with the character of Aunt Patience, a woman who we are first introduced to through Mary's recollection of a bright, fun-loving relative, and I felt there was no real 'redemption' of sorts for her, there was no moment where we heard her voice other than from her insipid, beaten down, present self, which I found disappointing.
Mary herself is an interesting, sympathetic protagonist who doesn't succumb to a wholly morose, moping character due to her circumstance; her feelings feel right and balanced, some that I think is difficult to do at times. Her Uncle Joss also doesn't entirely collapse into the archetypal brute and Daphne du Maurier is careful of avoiding ridiculousness when it comes to his villainous conduct. The Merlyn brothers, Joss and Jem, were both very interesting characters, in my opinion, especially the latter, and their history was some of the most intriguing parts of the book.
I can see why the ending could be deemed problematic (I didn't entirely enjoy some of its phrasing) and some aspects of the climax did feel rushed but overall, I really liked this book. It didn't blow me away and I can imagine why this would let down some readers, having come to this after loving Rebecca so dearly. For me, this only makes me more excited to read Daphne du Maurier's other novels and short stories.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the third book by Du Maurier that I've read and it's not my favorite. It starts out with a very gothic, atmospheric feeling which drew me in from page one. We find out that Mary's mother had had a stoke and passed away. She had set things up for Mary to go live with her Aunt and Uncle. Her uncle is a horrible man and poor Aunt Patience has to put up with him. So many creepy things happen but Mary is determined to figure out what's going on. Mary and Uncle Joss clash quite often and it's their bad relationship that keeps you turning pages to find out what is actually going on.
I still love Du Maurier's prose and storytelling style so I'll be reading many more of her books.
I still love Du Maurier's prose and storytelling style so I'll be reading many more of her books.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fierce young woman tossed into impossible circumstances. Leaving means abandoning someone she loved, staying means remaining in danger. She falls in love with a man she thinks too immoral to be worthy, and yet when everything comes crashing down around her ears she feels she’s been the biggest fool of them all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated