A review by moonpix
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

5.0

The perfect read for this time of year. This is the gothic at its best, for she uses the trappings of genre not to simplify the world though exaggeration but rather to emphasize the ambiguity of real life. (And in this novel specifically, the ambiguity of desire in a misogynistic society). I really admire her commitment to this project; it shows that she trusts her reader enough to give them the responsibility of sitting with a lack of surety. The circularity of the final sentences could not be more fitting, for as Philip considers his similarities to the hanged man we consider our similarities to Philip (and Rachel), and the subjectivity of the characters endlessly refracts onto the subjectivity of the reader.