Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier is a gothic thriller first published in 1936 and reads a little easier than expected in spite of the typical lengthy exposition of its time.
The protagonist is Mary Yellan, a young woman whose mother has recently died. Mary is on her way to Jamaica Inn where she is to be reunited with her aunt. Aunt Patience is married to a man who is quote a brute and involved in some unsavory activities on the moors in Cornwall. Uncle Joss begins the new arrangement by bullying and intimidating Mary, who feels duty bound to remain at the inn to protect her aunt. Mary meets her uncle’s brother and becomes attracted to him against her better judgment. A peculiar vicar is also lurking around is may not be the ally he presents himself to be.
Mary gets a close look at what her uncle does to supplement his income and has even more reason to wonder how long she has before her life is on the line.
Du Maurier is best known for her novel Rebecca which was published later. She does have a distinctive eloquence in her prose, and I can appreciate how she became so respected.
The character of Joss Merlyn, the abusive uncle, comes across as a bit campy in his bluster. It got a little difficult at times to imagine him as authentic. The tension between Joss and Mary was quite compelling in any case.to read.
Du Maurier also does well with describing the hostile and oppressive environment surrounding the inn. Sometimes it seems to go on a little long, but one must also understand the time in which that was written and what was expected versus the short attention span of today’s audience.
This is a little bit of a departure from my usual reading interests, but I was glad to find this one.
Next up, I am taking on the Big Kahuna of the true crime genre. I am delving into the intricacies of the Charles Manson case as told by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry with Helter Skelter.
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