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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
My first ever Daphne du Maurier book I have listened/read. It was a complete surprise. I loved it. Brilliant. I had read specific reviews on this audio book version where I have seen quite a few negative reviews on the narrator doing a female voice. This did not put me off and I thoroughly enjoyed the story, performance and as for the author. What a talent! A marvellous book indeed.
This is the first du Maurier novel I've read, and it didn't disappoint. I chose this because I planned to visit Bodmin Moor as well as the real Jamaica Inn later this year if the Coronavirus allows. I also never like to read whatever is supposedly an author's best novel (in du Maurier's case, Rebecca) first, because it's nice to think "this is pretty good, and there's apparently a better one, too."
There is a lot of action and suspense packed into this novel. The main character is a young woman named Mary Yellan who, at the start of the book, is going to live with her aunt and her aunt's husband after her mother's death. This sets off a story that could have been a book in the Series of Unfortunate Events.
I was prepared to be disappointed due to the book's age and the possibility of a woman who was too much of a goody-two-shoes or that the story would be told from a domestic/gossip view. This was not the case at all, but there were nevertheless different outdated views on show (all forgivable though, and possibly explainable due to the book being set in the early 1800s).
There is a lot of action and suspense packed into this novel. The main character is a young woman named Mary Yellan who, at the start of the book, is going to live with her aunt and her aunt's husband after her mother's death. This sets off a story that could have been a book in the Series of Unfortunate Events.
I was prepared to be disappointed due to the book's age and the possibility of a woman who was too much of a goody-two-shoes or that the story would be told from a domestic/gossip view. This was not the case at all, but there were nevertheless different outdated views on show (all forgivable though, and possibly explainable due to the book being set in the early 1800s).
Well, this book was...not what I was expecting, for sure. Absolutely crazy.
Daphne du Maurier writes glorified chick lit imo, but sure there’s nothing wrong with that
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It seems silly to compare this book to "Rebecca", the only other Du Maurier I have read (twice, in fact), but I am going to do it. It isn't half as good. "Jamaica Inn" is a chaste romance novel with a spunky, too curious, proto-feminist heroine and very little suspense. Orphaned at 23, Mary goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle at Jamaica Inn in Cornwall, where things are not what they seem. The reader knows more or less how it will all wrap up, which is too bad. The real villian, had he been more fleshed out, would have been worthy of a James Bond novel.
3.5 Stars
Mary Yellan is sent to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss when her mother passes away after an illness. On the way to her new home at Jamaica Inn, Mary learns that the townspeople want nothing to do with the inn--especially their innkeeper, Joss Merlyn. Mary is warned to stay far away, but her predicament leaves her no other options and so she begins her stay at Jamaica Inn.
What follows is a dark, mysterious and violent journey full of secrets and murder. Mary knows something is off about the inn, her Uncle, and his nighttime activities, but she doesn't want to leave her Aunt Patience, a woman who has been abused for so long that she is a nervous wreck and can't fend for herself or ward off her husband's alcohol-induced rages.
Soon Mary meets Jem Merlyn, her uncle's younger brother, a self-confessed horse thief who manages to somehow make her fall in love with him, for reasons I can't explain. Mary also meets the town vicar, a man with pale skin and eyes who happens to be an albino, and she confesses her theories regarding her uncle.
The rest of the book follows Mary as she attempts to make sense of what is happening in Jamaica Inn and the involvement of her Uncle Joss and Jem. She finally resolves to seek help and bring her Uncle down once and for all, but a surprising twist reveals that Mary may be out of her depth.
This was my fourth book by du Maurier, and while it is just as beautifully written as the others, I can't give it a better rating than the other three. It might be because it feels very one-note throughout, dark and violent until the very end, when you just want a break from it all. The romance was also not as fleshed out as in her other books, and I had a hard time believing Mary couldn't do better for herself. Overall I still enjoyed it despite hoping for a respite, and I recommend it to anyone who loves dark mysteries and a heroine you can root for.
Mary Yellan is sent to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss when her mother passes away after an illness. On the way to her new home at Jamaica Inn, Mary learns that the townspeople want nothing to do with the inn--especially their innkeeper, Joss Merlyn. Mary is warned to stay far away, but her predicament leaves her no other options and so she begins her stay at Jamaica Inn.
What follows is a dark, mysterious and violent journey full of secrets and murder. Mary knows something is off about the inn, her Uncle, and his nighttime activities, but she doesn't want to leave her Aunt Patience, a woman who has been abused for so long that she is a nervous wreck and can't fend for herself or ward off her husband's alcohol-induced rages.
Soon Mary meets Jem Merlyn, her uncle's younger brother, a self-confessed horse thief who manages to somehow make her fall in love with him, for reasons I can't explain. Mary also meets the town vicar, a man with pale skin and eyes who happens to be an albino, and she confesses her theories regarding her uncle.
The rest of the book follows Mary as she attempts to make sense of what is happening in Jamaica Inn and the involvement of her Uncle Joss and Jem. She finally resolves to seek help and bring her Uncle down once and for all, but a surprising twist reveals that Mary may be out of her depth.
This was my fourth book by du Maurier, and while it is just as beautifully written as the others, I can't give it a better rating than the other three. It might be because it feels very one-note throughout, dark and violent until the very end, when you just want a break from it all. The romance was also not as fleshed out as in her other books, and I had a hard time believing Mary couldn't do better for herself. Overall I still enjoyed it despite hoping for a respite, and I recommend it to anyone who loves dark mysteries and a heroine you can root for.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No