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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
This book was published two years before [b:Rebecca|12873|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327871977l/12873._SY75_.jpg|46663], and I'm kind of amazed that she went from this one to that one in such a short time--because the latter is far superior, and du Maurier must have learned some pretty quick damn lessons from the former.
Mind you, Jamaica Inn isn't a bad book by any means. And perhaps any book of "romantic suspense" will pale in comparison to Rebecca, even other books from the same author. The atmosphere here is, as expected, absolutely exquisite. Du Maurier was so skilled at really putting you right there alongside the characters, with simple things like her description of the sound of the wind in the grass, the discoloration of a coach seat from a dripping roof, and the scrape of a door on a stone floor. The woman could set a scene, let me tell you. And Jamaica Inn itself is foreboding and looms right out of the page at the reader. It's definitely not anything like its namesake island, I can say that for sure without ever having been there.
And I liked the main character Mary quite a bit, especially the fact that she's 23 and does not, as often happens in older books, come across as either a silly teenager or an old spinster, which she pretty much was at 23 in her time. Mary is steady and smart, but also gets freaked the eff out just like real people would at certain goings-on in this story. She's neither too weak or too strong, and I appreciated that a lot.
However, Joss, her hateful uncle and the ringleader of all the scary shit that goes on in this story, was very poorly done. He's so over-the-top, almost cartoonish really, and it surprised me to see such a lack of subtlety in his character. Right from the first moment Mary meets him, he's just ridiculously nasty and mean, and practically stating so out loud, all the time. He's full of threats and huskily-whispered cruelties, he's wildly violent at the drop of a hat, and seems to have nothing even approaching a soul. It was just all too much, too heavy-handed.
The central mystery was okay. You think it's just one thing but it turns out to be a little deeper and darker, and it was definitely wild. But again, it ended up feeling too pointed and unsubtle. And then we get a reveal that didn't totally surprise me, but it did let me down because I was hoping it wouldn't come about. And then the very end was just...meh.
So there's some good stuff here for sure, but of the three du Maurier books I've read, it definitely takes the bronze.
Mind you, Jamaica Inn isn't a bad book by any means. And perhaps any book of "romantic suspense" will pale in comparison to Rebecca, even other books from the same author. The atmosphere here is, as expected, absolutely exquisite. Du Maurier was so skilled at really putting you right there alongside the characters, with simple things like her description of the sound of the wind in the grass, the discoloration of a coach seat from a dripping roof, and the scrape of a door on a stone floor. The woman could set a scene, let me tell you. And Jamaica Inn itself is foreboding and looms right out of the page at the reader. It's definitely not anything like its namesake island, I can say that for sure without ever having been there.
And I liked the main character Mary quite a bit, especially the fact that she's 23 and does not, as often happens in older books, come across as either a silly teenager or an old spinster, which she pretty much was at 23 in her time. Mary is steady and smart, but also gets freaked the eff out just like real people would at certain goings-on in this story. She's neither too weak or too strong, and I appreciated that a lot.
However, Joss, her hateful uncle and the ringleader of all the scary shit that goes on in this story, was very poorly done. He's so over-the-top, almost cartoonish really, and it surprised me to see such a lack of subtlety in his character. Right from the first moment Mary meets him, he's just ridiculously nasty and mean, and practically stating so out loud, all the time. He's full of threats and huskily-whispered cruelties, he's wildly violent at the drop of a hat, and seems to have nothing even approaching a soul. It was just all too much, too heavy-handed.
The central mystery was okay. You think it's just one thing but it turns out to be a little deeper and darker, and it was definitely wild. But again, it ended up feeling too pointed and unsubtle. And then we get a reveal that didn't totally surprise me, but it did let me down because I was hoping it wouldn't come about. And then the very end was just...meh.
So there's some good stuff here for sure, but of the three du Maurier books I've read, it definitely takes the bronze.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This story is bonkers, but the writing is so atmospheric. It's 300+ pages of rainy Cornwall moors to set a spooky scene.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was the story that made me fall in love with Cornwall. I dreamed of its marshes and its secluded cover and its taciturn inhabitants for many years before I finally got to visit and I have to say, it is a place that doesn't disapoint. It is unspoilt, rugged and wild with a hint of danger in the air. They still insist they're not a part of england and they have their own language, though like Irish, it is little used. I wouldn't have been surprised to start off of the surfing beach and find the inhabitants of Jamaca Inn plotting in a quite corner.
This story is so atmospheric that I could almost taste smell smell the heather and taste the salt on my lips. That is the genious of Du Maurier.
I originally read this book in my teens and approved wholeheartedly of the choices made by Mary Yellen, at 50, I'd have more reservations! The love story is not as believable to me - have I lost my sense of romance and adventure? Yes,yes, yes!
I listened to the audition read by Tony Britton. His dulcet tones greatly enhanced the listening experience and I would give the narration 5 stars. During part of the story I was sitting doing some seeing repair jobs and it was very soothing and felt so right.
This story is so atmospheric that I could almost taste smell smell the heather and taste the salt on my lips. That is the genious of Du Maurier.
I originally read this book in my teens and approved wholeheartedly of the choices made by Mary Yellen, at 50, I'd have more reservations! The love story is not as believable to me - have I lost my sense of romance and adventure? Yes,yes, yes!
I listened to the audition read by Tony Britton. His dulcet tones greatly enhanced the listening experience and I would give the narration 5 stars. During part of the story I was sitting doing some seeing repair jobs and it was very soothing and felt so right.
ACTUAL RATING: 3.5 STARS
While I enjoyed reading Jamaica Inn, especially for its dark atmosphere, the ending felt a bit underwhelming. The big revelation felt flat because I sort of saw it coming and I was not surprised. Still, it is a good read and I recommend it :)
While I enjoyed reading Jamaica Inn, especially for its dark atmosphere, the ending felt a bit underwhelming. The big revelation felt flat because I sort of saw it coming and I was not surprised. Still, it is a good read and I recommend it :)
“there’s things that happen at Jamaica, Mary, that I’ve never dared to breathe. Bad things. Evil things. I can’t ever tell you; I dare not even admit them to myself. Some of it in time you’ll come to know. You can’t avoid it, living here.”
Jamaica Inn is a weird place. It is isolated and tormented and forbidding. And just ugly. Oh and creepy. But to honour her mother’s dying wish, Mary Yellan heads there and lives with her aunt Patience and uncle Joss, the rough ape-like landlord of the inn. Aunt Patience is no longer the beautiful, laughing woman Mary remembered. Instead she is frightened, broken, a tattered shadow of her former self. Mary Yellan is warned against the place, by the coachman who drops her off, by the fact that locals never stop by, by all the hints and signs that she herself notices – signs of smuggling, of murder, of things worse than murder. She wants to leave, to get help, but she can’t because she doesn’t want to leave her aunt, who is blindly devoted to her husband.
She thought of Aunt Patience, trailing like a ghost in the shadow of her master, and she shuddered. That would be Mary Yellan too, but for the grace of God and her own strength of will.
Jamaica Inn doesn’t stick in the mind like Rebecca does. It’s all kinds of creepy but the characters don’t seem all that fleshed out. I admired Mary Yellan for her courage, for her no-nonsense stick-to-her-guns attitude (It seems that she is not called just ‘Mary’ but always ‘Mary Yellan’, as in: She is a bold one that Mary Yellan.), didn’t quite understand her aunt Patience, wondered at her uncle Joss. But du Maurier is at her best when creeping out her readers with the setting:
“No human being could live in this wasted country, thought Mary, and remain like other people; the very children could 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.”
Jamaica Inn is a weird place. It is isolated and tormented and forbidding. And just ugly. Oh and creepy. But to honour her mother’s dying wish, Mary Yellan heads there and lives with her aunt Patience and uncle Joss, the rough ape-like landlord of the inn. Aunt Patience is no longer the beautiful, laughing woman Mary remembered. Instead she is frightened, broken, a tattered shadow of her former self. Mary Yellan is warned against the place, by the coachman who drops her off, by the fact that locals never stop by, by all the hints and signs that she herself notices – signs of smuggling, of murder, of things worse than murder. She wants to leave, to get help, but she can’t because she doesn’t want to leave her aunt, who is blindly devoted to her husband.
She thought of Aunt Patience, trailing like a ghost in the shadow of her master, and she shuddered. That would be Mary Yellan too, but for the grace of God and her own strength of will.
Jamaica Inn doesn’t stick in the mind like Rebecca does. It’s all kinds of creepy but the characters don’t seem all that fleshed out. I admired Mary Yellan for her courage, for her no-nonsense stick-to-her-guns attitude (It seems that she is not called just ‘Mary’ but always ‘Mary Yellan’, as in: She is a bold one that Mary Yellan.), didn’t quite understand her aunt Patience, wondered at her uncle Joss. But du Maurier is at her best when creeping out her readers with the setting:
“No human being could live in this wasted country, thought Mary, and remain like other people; the very children could 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.”