Take a photo of a barcode or cover
badgermode 's review for:
Jamaica Inn
by Daphne du Maurier
There's a good deal to this book, but the narrative is a little weak and the style is very heavy and wooden. It raises interesting questions about agency and the roles people play: Mary is a woman and tells herself that she has a role to play as such, and it is frustrating at times to see her so hampered by those roles. The line between good and bad is blurred very well, and people who do bad things are given a degree of depth. However the characters are overall too obvious, and lack a little depth to them; rarely does anyone do anything that reveals much about themselves, and the twist is bizarre and rather poorly handled. There are exciting episodes, but I can't help but feel that this book doesn't quite live up to its own expectations. It is attempting to be a bildungsroman along the lines of Jane Eyre, but doesn't quite get there. Not a terrible read, and worth it if you visit Cornwall; but otherwise a little flat.