Jamaica Inn

I ORDERED JAMAICA INN BY DAPHNE DUMAURIER. I ORDERED JUST 'GOOD' QUALITY, BUT THE BOOK I RECEIVED LOOKED BRAND NEW - MAYBE HAS BEEN READ ONCE PREVIOUSLY. ALSO, SINCE THE BOOK WAS SHIPPED IN SUCH A TIMELY MANNER, I RECEIVED IT A NUMBER OF DAYS EARLY. I DONATE THE BOOKS I'VE READ TO NURSING HOMES, HOSPITALS, ETC. SO WAS QUITE PLEASED WITH THE QUALITY. WILLL DEFINITELY ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY AGAIN.

Before I start my review, a word of warning if you buy Kindle versions of Daphne Du Maurier's books:

Some unscrupulous entity has been selling shortened and reworded Kindle versions of Du Maurier's books. There is nothing in the product description that states that it's not the authentic version of the book. These versions are meant to deceive the buyer. Amazon posts the same reviews to both the real versions of the books and the fake versions, even though they are not at all the same product. To be sure you are buying the legitimate Kindle edition, check the product details to make sure you are buying the version published by Little, Brown, and Company and sold by Hachette Book Group.

My review of Jamaica Inn: Jamaica Inn was first published 80 years ago, but it has held up well. Du Maurier does a great job of making the English moor into a dark and forbidding place. The days are short. The rain is constant. The rocks are large and sharp. One false step and hidden bogs will suck you down to your death. The Inn itself is cold and damp, rundown and isolated. Life is difficult. Du Maurier populates her story with complex and fascinating characters - a young and innocent leading lady, her violent and alcoholic uncle, her meek and abused aunt, a charming and dangerous horse thief, a violent gang of criminals that lures ships to their doom on the rocky shore, and an albino (!) vicar. There's plenty of violence, but it's not as explicit as it would be in a book written today. It was fascinating to see how her situation affected our young heroine. The ending left me with a lot to think about. I heartily recommend Jamaica Inn if you are a fan of gothic suspense. The writing may seem a little bit dated by today's standards, but it's a quick read and Du Maurier is terrific author.

Oh, how utterly Gothic is Daphne's tale of Mary Yellan. It is a treat to me, having not read much since beginning an overnight grocery job, and having not read much Gothic fiction in general, to dig into a historical novel filled with suspense and richly detailed. I actually began reading this a while ago, took a break from it, then last week, steamed through the last 100 pages in 3 days. It was a good decision, as the final third of the book begs to be read in nearly one sitting. Characters were good. Mary isn't the most relatable main character for a man in his 30's, but she was still a fairly well-developed protagonist. Of course the most memorable character, Joss Merly, was quite the antagonist, but I liked that Du Maurier showed him having humane moments and thoughts. Jem is another interesting character. I couldn't give this a full five stars only because it's a tad bit predictable near the end, and I guessed an outcome slightly before the reveal. Overall, Jamaica Inn is a tightly written and plotted thriller, a blast to read, and an admirable work by Daphne Du Maurier, who proves she has a bit of a dark imagination at times, and, twisted reader like myself, that's absolutely a positive. Definitely looking forward to watching the two adaptations (I already own the Hitchcock film), and more of Miss Du Maurier's work in general

"Turn back around!" you want to shout to Mary Yellan in the first pages of "Jamaica Inn." Why would she abandon the green and hospitable village she'd always called home for this tomb of a place in the rugged moors? Why doesn't she listen to the coachman as he implores her not to go in? There's evil in this place. It's clear. As you can guess, she stays, and from there on you are in for a journey of mystery, horror, and romance, all the hallmarks of a great Gothic tale.

It will also have you thinking. While savoring the story, and wondering what is really going on, you get much to reflect upon, including the role of women in this society, the pull of physical attraction against common sense, the spectrum of evil, and questions about whom you can trust. Daphne DuMaurier does all of this with a superb use of language that takes you right there into the strange journey that Mary takes from the moment she exits the coach: all the mysterious and dark things going on around her, and the innermost workings of her mind.

Daphne DuMaurier is a master storyteller. Before I picked up this one, I'd only read "Rebecca," and that was a long time ago. Now I can't wait to read more.

Having fallen in love with Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, I was anxious to read something else by her. I was not disappointed with Jamaica Inn.

It's the 1800's and Mary Yellan is a twenty three year old woman who has lived her life on a farm in Helston. She helped her mother with the family farm after her father passed away. When her mother loses her will to live, she shares with Mary her final wish. She says that Mary is to go to live with her Aunt Patience in Bodmin after she dies. Patience' husband Joss Merlyn is the Innkeeper of Jamaica Inn.

Mary arrives at the gloomy inn, and is shocked by the woman her Aunt Patience has become. Formerly outgoing and cheerful, now she is nervous, quiet, aloof and frightened. Her husband, Joss is creepy, mean and secretive, and Mary realizes early on that this is not a place for her or her aunt, as danger lurks within the crumbling inn.

(p. 159...."She thought of Aunt Patience, trailing like a ghost in the shadow of her master, and she shuddered. That would be Mary Yellen too, but for the Grace of God and her own strength and will."

Mary wants to escape but she is torn because of the promise she made to her mother. She feels her aunt is not safe with Joss, an alcoholic, and she wants Aunt Patience to escape as well. Strange things are going on at the inn on the Cornish coast. I don't want to give spoilers, but there are never any guests and is not even open to the public, and secretive things happen late at night at Jamaica Inn.

MY THOUGHTS - If you like Gothic novels, and stories that evoke the atmosphere of horror and dread, then this novel should be perfect for you.

RECOMMENDED - 4.5/5 stars

Jamaica Inn by the English writer Daphne du Maurier is a classic. The story begins with 20 year-old Mary Yellan making her way to Jamaica Inn in a horse drawn coach, the darkness of the moors and the beating rain making her very anxious.

Mary lived on a farm in Helford but had to leave after her mother died. As she was dying she asked Mary to go live with her Aunt Patience at Jamaica Inn. The journey to her aunt is anything but comforting.

Upon arrival Mary finds her aunt a different person fro the sparkling, witty laughing woman she remembered. Aunt Patience seems aged 50 years and mutters constantly. She is clearly frightened of something and Mary comes to realize very quickly what, or shall I say who, is the reason. Mary’s Uncle Joss is a wicked man and he has illegal business affairs right there at the inn.

The plot follows a group of murderous wreckers, Joss seemingly one who is in charge. They run ships aground using lanterns on the shore and kill the sailors then steal the cargo. Jamaica Inn is never open to the public yet every few weeks men come in the dark of the night, silently unloading carts of merchandise they have stolen from the wrecked ships.

Mary foolishly becomes attracted to Joss’s younger brother, Jem. She realizes Jem does not have anything to do with her uncle’s murderous business although he is a horse thief.

One day Mary decides to track her uncle across the moors so she can report the lot of them to the law. But it gets dark earlier than she thought it would and Mary is stranded, cold and wet and alone in the dark. Miraculously a horse drawn buggy comes along and she is rescued. Francis Davey, an albino vicar who lives in the next village, picks Mary up and takes her to his home. She tells the vicar the improbable tale of her uncle’s business expecting him to help her. He instead points out some weak points in her story and suggests she is letting her imagination get away from her.

There is much more but if you haven’t read Du Maurier’s classic, I don’t want to give away the rest of the story. Soon I would like to read her other popular book, Rebecca.

What would you like to eat if you were arriving on a damp, cold wintery evening to a near deserted inn on the moors? I would want a hot brisket dinner and loads of tea! That's what I was inspired to prepare after reading this book. (Photos are on my website)

First of all, I want to state that this audio book IS AN ABRIDGEMENT. No where in the Amazon listing does it state this, and I didn't discover it myself until after I received the CDs in the mail; and even then, only after reading the fine print. Although an abridged version was not at all what I wanted, that seems to be all that's avaiable in audio for this book at this time.

Jamaica Inn is an intriguing story well-told; it is a Daphne Du Maurier, after all, so fine writing goes without saying. My only complaint is that it seemed to be too short, and limited to just the action of the plot; there were no descriptive passages to tell about the scenery or set the mood. I am guessing that all of those passages were cut out in the process of abridgement, although since I have never read an unabridged version of this book I am guessing.

This is an overall good story, and the narration by Samantha Bond was excellent. For me, it has served to whet my appetite to read the full and unabridged version. I want to savor the descriptive, moody scene-setting that Du Maurier is so good at, and that I suspect was cut out in order to fit this onto 3 CDs.

After reading Rebecca, a novel in a class all its own, I was led to believe that reading Jamaica Inn would be a similar experience . . . but nothing could have been further from the truth.

The characters are entirely 1-dimensional, absolutely nothing happens for the first 2/3 of the book, and the book is completely contrived and unmotivated. Why the protagonist is made to promise to go to Jamaica Inn at the beginning is lazy/random/no impetus given whatsoever; much is alluded to and yet nothing is revealed throughout; then, into the last 1/3 of the novel, when it seems it feels like it's running out of time, it zooms to a finish that could not have been more unrealistic, even if it were FANTASY.

There is also ZERO romance in the book : there is one kiss — and then the protagonist claims to be in love with that person for the whole book, all the while confused about him, then at the last minute (literally on the very last page) dumps everything they spent the entire novel pining after for something that makes no sense and is NOT AT ALL informed or motivated by anything other than the novel needing to be over by such point.

An absolutely uneventful, dull, boring, empty, TERRIBLE read.

The ONLY saving grace that actually got me to finish the novel was, of course, the writing. But even that was long-winded. About a literal 1/3 of the entire book is STRICTLY JUST DESCRIBING THE WEATHER, which is mind-numbingly unacceptable from any author — even the author of Rebecca. Nevertheless, the writing is done artfully and well, with technique and style being the sole consolation in getting to the end of such a vapid, hollow endeavor. But then there were even SO MANY SPELLING ERRORS in this particular edition — 100% inexcusable!!!! I understand that is strictly the publisher's error, but if you're publishing a novel written by the author who wrote Rebecca, PLEASE ensure you publish her other works accordingly, especially when this story has next to nothing going for it as it is.

Ultimately, were it not for the writing itself, it should have been a 0 stars rating, full stop. But alas, just the two.