Originally published in 1936 by Gollancz
My edition: The gorgeous chalkboard YA
re-release from last year.
WHEN
I Discovered This Classic
When I started to see adverts for
a new BBC TV mini-series back in 2014. I actually struggled to get into it and never
made it past the first episode!
WHY
I Chose to Read It
I fell head over heels in love
with Daphne du Maurier last year when I read Frenchman’s Creek for the blog tour celebrating the new YA editions
of Frenchman’s Creek, Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.
WHAT
Makes It a Classic
It’s Daphne du Maurier! Jamaica Inn is a classic tale of an
orphaned girl forced to leave her home and move in with her aunt and uncle who
run the legendary Jamaica Inn, only to find that there’s something a little
sinister going on. Mary also happens to catch the eye of the devilish Jem
Merlyn, her uncle’s brother, and begins to wonder if he’s mixed up in all of
the murdering and smuggling that is going on along the Cornish coast.
WHAT
I Thought of This Classic
I was a bit hesitant about this
after loving Rebecca and Frenchman’s Creek at it doesn’t seem to
be as well-loved, but I still really, really enjoyed it.
As I'm coming to expect from Du
Maurier, the atmosphere perfectly drawn; Jamaica
Inn is dark, gloomy and deliciously ominous. Atmosphere is one of the
places that Du Maurier really, really shines. It builds deliciously and the wild,
rugged setting of the Bodmin moors only enhances everything as Mary spends her
afternoons walking them and meeting mysterious figures that become very important
to her life at Jamaica Inn. Jem is the biggy.
Jem Merlyn is said to be the
worst of the Merlyn’s, though Mary can't imagine anyone worse than her uncle,
Joss Merlyn. Jem turns out to be ruggedly charming, intelligent and really
rather appealing. Mary’s ruminations on her growing feelings for Jem revealed a
really interesting take on romance – she doesn’t believe in it. She sees
attraction as instinctual and inevitable, and a bit of an inconvenience, to be
honest. It's a refreshing attitude and an unusual one for a 19th
Century woman. Like Lady Dona from Frenchman’s
Creek, Mary feels a little stifled by the constraints of being a young,
unmarried woman in her time; she’s trapped by her family and her situation, but
unlike Dona, she has neither the money nor the freedom to escape it. I'm beginning
to think that this might be a running theme for Du Maurier.
Unlike Rebecca and Frenchman’s
Creek, I did have a few issues with Jamaica
Inn. I didn’t 100% connect with Mary, though I did like her for the most
part. It was her reaction to one of the characters that made my feelings
towards her shaky. SPOILER! Francis
Davey, the vicar of a nearby town, rescues Mary when she becomes lost in the
moors and takes her back home to Jamaica Inn. Davey has albinism and Mary
becomes a little fixated on him – she constantly refers to him as “an albino”
and “a freak of nature”, and then he turns out to be the brains behind the
deadly smuggling gang that Joss is a part of. It made me extremely
uncomfortable for so much focus to be on his appearance and “unnaturalness” and
then he turns out to be a villain. Not cool, DDM.
I was also a smidge disappointed
by the ending. There was a big build up with Mary telling Jem that she didn’t want
to go with him on an adventure and wanted to go back home to Helford among the
people she grew up with and make a go of her parents’ farm. I was cheering her
on and maybe hoping Jem would go with her, but not too bothered, and then he
works on her and she up and leaves with him instead! It wasn’t out of character
completely, but I just didn’t feel like it was really what she wanted. SPOILER OVER!
Though Jamaica Inn wasn’t as perfect as Rebecca or Frenchman’s Creek for
me, I did still thoroughly enjoy it and my love for Daphne du Maurier is still
going strong.
WILL
It Stay a Classic
Yes, it definitely will. It’s one
of Du Maurier’s most famous novels and it was adapted for the BBC a year or so
ago. It won’t be forgotten!
WHO
I’d Recommend it To
- Fans of eerie, historical
settings.
- People who love 19th
century set novels.
Sophie
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