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.

Comments

My Sea Change Experience (MIF 2021)

The Beginning of Something New I heard about Sea Change through Reform Radio and afterwards I spent five minutes having an internal battle with myself, pros and cons, overthinking. I’m a shy person who doesn’t like the spotlight (something that doesn’t fit with my aspirations to become a singer), but I love dancing, I’m not in the best shape and have zero experience…will it be COVID safe (yes). The argument that won me over was simply: a chance like this may never come again; I have nothing to lose and so much to gain. It was my chance to be a part of my city, to represent it and to do so with other people who call Manchester home. Sea Change would be launching Manchester International Festival 21 plus it was on my 30 th birthday. I was slightly anxious because, like everyone else, I hadn’t gathered with a crowd for more than a year and a half and my brain had been reprogrammed to stay away from them during that time. I wasn’t sure how I’d be but all of those fears we...

Poem: The Quiet Room

The Quiet Room Intrinsically obligated to serve, Do you think the artist just saw a plate of cheese on the table and was like....I can do that? Head bowed in servitude but only in a prostrate submissive form. It's not that I can see it, it's that you can't unsee it. Looking at it long enough the angles are not only angular but long enough. I should go, away from this quiet place but it's comforting here. Here, these walls hold the part of me that was so scared, the part of me that put my best foot forward in the frozen snow. What a long path of misstroden woes and forgotten beguilements.

Poem: Only A Number

Only a number, Fixed intent, Work hard and pay your taxes, The city is paved with your tears, Starving to feed the extra mouths, Rent paid for an empty fridge, Children with lightning gold smiles, Who possess a resilience harder than diamonds, When all is lost, Gather in numbers, As the small kindnesses accumulate, The silver lining is sharper than the knife edge, And if they didn't have the children the adults would be lost, Drowning in a tidal wave of despair, Neck ache from sticking it out and holding it high, Society has given you a number, Remember that you were born with a name. Remember that you are loved, Remember that you are capable of loving, Despite your rage, Despite your fear, You will always and forever be more than... Grief, Pain, Low Expectations, Heartbreak, The sum of all your memories and all your losses, You will always be more than just a number. ------------ A total of 6,848 people living in the city are currently without a home, according to Shelter. The ch...

The Mancunian Yank

Search This Blog