Jamaica Inn
“Dead men tell no tales, Mary.” – Joss Merlyn, Jamaica Inn
Daphne Du Maurier, aside from having an absolutely glorious name, is a more modern author whose writing has carved her a place in the classics.
Rebecca is how she'll be remembered, however it is Jamaica Inn that caught my eye.
The story first crossed my path in the form of the TV show, starring Jessica Brown Findlay (better known as Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey). I hadn’t watched, but there had been audience complaints about it. Apparently, the accents used were so strong that watchers couldn’t understand what the actors were saying. As amusing as I found that, I then almost entirely forgot about it until over a year later. I was perusing a local charity shop with one of my best friends when this little hardback book jumped out at me. £2.50? What a steal! Into my greedy little hands it went.
Mary Yellen is forced, by the death of her mother, to travel from her peaceful, satisfying life in Helford to Jamaica Inn, a desolate, terrifying spot in the wild moors on the coast of Cornwall. She moves in with her mother’s sister, Patience and her husband Joss Merlyn. Her Aunt Patience is a shell of who Mary remembers, having been mentally, physically and emotionally abused by Joss. Joss himself is a great drunken lout of a man, who deals in awful, underhand things that both Mary and the reader learn about in due course as the story progresses.
From the second chapter the plot twists and turns, this story does not move slowly and Mary, with her determination and iron will, becomes more and more conflicted about the life she now leads, especially in regards to Joss’ younger brother Jem.
If you’re looking for something that veers towards the gothic genre, with a fast moving plot and ambiguous characters, then this is definitely something you’ll want to check out. I personally was very surprised by the character reveal at the end, and I thought Mary’s views on love and romance were very interesting, especially considering both the time period this was set and the time period it was written.