Book Review: Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (10/10🌟)

My introduction to Daphne's work had, up until now been through Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic adaptations (Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, and The Birds) and I adored both Maureen O'Hara's and Charles Laughton's performances in the 1939 classic and so it's difficult for me not to compare the original work of art to it's adaptation. Alfred changed some details and left out others but in the film he still managed to capture the wildness of rural England and the romance.

Daphne's novel is an exploration of limits, both physical and mental, as twenty-three year old Mary Yellen goes to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn in the desolate, coaching inn, (the novel's namesake) after being raised in on a farm in Helford and forced to leave due to her mothers death, and she learns that not everyone is who they seem to be in this novel that's filled with love, lies, moors and murder.

Mary's a strong, emotional and multi-directional character, which I loved. Yes, she falls in love but she doesn't lose her head like some feather brained idiot like most heroin's seemed to do in most novels set in the 19th century. And even though there are moments when she had to wait for help, there wasn't a single scent of "damsel in distress" about her, mostly because she had only herself to depend on for her own survival. Joss is a hard character, who also has depth, something that would seem impossible to include in the make up of a ruthless, drunk character, but Daphne gave him subtleties that I think other readers should discover while appreciating this book, along with the feeling of sinister foreboding that pops up occasionally.

This is the first English novel that I've read since my return to England, and I realise that British work carries a definable grit (or Brit) to it. Our best work is usually about being alone, somewhere cold and dark but always with silver linings. We don't sugar coat things (despite a seemingly collective love of pastries and pies) we just get on with it because we have to, just like the characters in this novel do.

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