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sathyasekar 's review for:
Jamaica Inn
by Daphne du Maurier
3.5 stars.
"Jamaica Inn" had remained one of those must-reads on my list for years that i just kept pushing back. I am glad i finally managed to get through it. The book is probably du Maurier's second most famous book. It has a very distinct texture but also is very typically du Maurier. In my opinion, the greatest ability of du Maurier is to bring to life her world, her characters. They feel so real that you can almost smell them. I read this through warm summer afternoons in India but still felt the gloomy, bleak ambiance of Cornwall sink in.
The plot is well known. Mary Yellan arrives at her aunt's place, Jamaica Inn, after her mother's death. She finds that far from being the cheerful and happy aunt she remembered, her aunt is a nervous wreck. All thanks to the evil workings of her husband, Joss Merlyn. He is asc repellant a character as you would ever get to read. I am sure du Maurier must have delighted in creating this man. She meets and is attracted to Joss' brother Jem who is himself a cheerful horse thief. She gets too see how villainous her uncle and his friends are and the book recounts her attempt to bring her uncle to justice.
As with all du Maurier books, there is ambiguity about all characters. There is no comfort character for you to hold on to. Mary herself, though spunky and engaging, resorts to inexplicable weaknesses at different points inn the book. Francis Devey, the vicar, never is the comforting church man you expect. Jem, though a lot of fun, again didn't seem to be all there. Even the man of justice, the Squire, isn't very likeable.
What I didn't quite enjoy was the romance part. I felt it was there just for convenience. Somehow, it just did not fit the narrative very will.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, almost a Gothic thriller. The world was wonderfully built and I enjoyed every bit of my stay there!!
"Jamaica Inn" had remained one of those must-reads on my list for years that i just kept pushing back. I am glad i finally managed to get through it. The book is probably du Maurier's second most famous book. It has a very distinct texture but also is very typically du Maurier. In my opinion, the greatest ability of du Maurier is to bring to life her world, her characters. They feel so real that you can almost smell them. I read this through warm summer afternoons in India but still felt the gloomy, bleak ambiance of Cornwall sink in.
The plot is well known. Mary Yellan arrives at her aunt's place, Jamaica Inn, after her mother's death. She finds that far from being the cheerful and happy aunt she remembered, her aunt is a nervous wreck. All thanks to the evil workings of her husband, Joss Merlyn. He is asc repellant a character as you would ever get to read. I am sure du Maurier must have delighted in creating this man. She meets and is attracted to Joss' brother Jem who is himself a cheerful horse thief. She gets too see how villainous her uncle and his friends are and the book recounts her attempt to bring her uncle to justice.
As with all du Maurier books, there is ambiguity about all characters. There is no comfort character for you to hold on to. Mary herself, though spunky and engaging, resorts to inexplicable weaknesses at different points inn the book. Francis Devey, the vicar, never is the comforting church man you expect. Jem, though a lot of fun, again didn't seem to be all there. Even the man of justice, the Squire, isn't very likeable.
What I didn't quite enjoy was the romance part. I felt it was there just for convenience. Somehow, it just did not fit the narrative very will.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, almost a Gothic thriller. The world was wonderfully built and I enjoyed every bit of my stay there!!