This time around the Slaves voted to read and discuss Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn. Discussion began on the 15th so not only am I late to the party, everyone loved the book except me. Well, every party needs a pooper and it might as well be me.
It’s not that I hated the book, I just came out feeling meh about it. And it probably isn’t the book’s fault. I had already begun reading Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies and was loving it when I realized, oh crud! I need to read Jamaica Inn! I very reluctantly left Cromwell on his own for a while. I have only ever read Rebecca and liked that one very much so expected something gothic-y with lots of twisted mind games.
Things began well enough with the 23-year-old Mary Yellan heading off to live with Aunt Patience and uncle by marriage Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn because she was newly orphaned. Ok, young, innocent country girl heading into the unknown, yes! And then when she gets in the neighborhood of the Inn and no one wants to talk to her about it and we learn that coaches don’t even stop there anymore, oh yes, this is going to be good!
What we find is the formerly lively Aunt Patience turned into a beaten down mouse of a woman by the raging tyranny of her husband and his unsavory associates and business. We don’t know much at first about the unsavory business and while Mary has a hard time understanding why Aunt Patience doesn’t just leave Joss, she does feel sorry for her. Mary shows some spunk and right away stands up to Joss’s bullying, earning a bit of admiration from him.
But then it all started to go awry for me when Jem Merlyn, Joss’s younger brother by twenty years, comes on the scene and Mary right away falls in love with him. Jem is an admitted horse thief, but he is lively and handsome and teases Mary in a friendly, flirty way. He is a bad boy with a heart of gold and Mary falls fast. She doesn’t want to, of course, and she tries to rationalize why she likes Jem by likening human sexual attraction to farm animals. Mary doesn’t trust Jem but when he kisses her — fireworks! She admits to herself she’d spend the night with him if the world were different for women.
And so the book turns into a romance and I kept waiting for Jem to sweep in and rescue Mary. He does eventually but of course not until Mary has been in peril a number of times. And the ending, well, I saw it coming a long way off.
The most interesting character in the book is the vicar, Francis Davey. He is set up at first as a potential love interest for Mary, the good man to Jem the bad boy. But he is not what he appears. We get hints and I was pleasantly surprised to find out his secret, but his motivations were sketchy at best even though he goes to great lengths to explain them.
It wasn’t a bad book, Jamaica Inn and I just didn’t click. That’s okay, these things happen. The real life Jamaica Inn is currently for sale (Thanks for the link Danielle!). The owners are retiring. I might not have loved the book, but it sure would be lots of fun owning a place like that!
When I first joined Goodreads I’d check out how many stars a particular book earned. I was more likely to read one with at least 4 stars…that is until I read a couple of them and wondered why people seemed so enthusiastic. Not every book rings the bell for every reader. I have loved everything I’ve read by du Maurier, and I enjoyed Jamaica Inn. I found an old copy of The House On The Strand at one of the library sales and want to read it soon. It’s sitting next to Flight of the Falcon and The Glass Blowers, both of which I read decades ago. They need a re-read.
LikeLike
Grad, you are right, not every book rings the bell. And I am sure I would have liked it more if I wasn’t expecting Rebecca and it had not bumped against Bring Up the Bodies. I’m sure I will read du Maurier again sometime though.
LikeLike
I set ‘The House on the Strand’ as part of a Summer School syllabus two or three years ago and I was surprised by how much comment (mostly favourable) it drew. Do let me know what you think of it when you read it.
LikeLike
Your reponse sounds exactly like what I’ve experienced myself a couple of times with her fiction; I think I had slightly skewed expectations based on what I saw (or thought I saw) in Rebecca, and I still haven’t adjusted them properly to simply have fun with the other books of hers that I’ve collected. In the meantime, I did read Margaret Forster’s bio of her, and that was interesting, but I aimed to leave some space before I try more of her fiction. (Mind you, I did intend to join in this time for the first time, but even though I have about a dozen of her novels at hand – see, I really thought I’d love her work – this wasn’t amongst them, and so that plan was squashed. But maybe i am nearly ready to give her another go.)
LikeLike
I am glad I am not the only one who had trouble with another book of hers after reading Rebecca. I think the next time I read one I will be more likely to enjoy it for what it is. Good luck when you try her again!
LikeLike
Even though I loved the book, I was surprised that the reaction was so unanimously–and enthusiastically–positive. I can see how the book wouldn’t work if you weren’t in the mood for something with a rather goofy plot. Du Maurier and Mantel are different categories altogether, and if you want one, the other probably won’t do.
Rohan and Rebecca and I decided that since we can’t afford to buy Jamaica Inn, we could at least have a bloggers’ retreat there! There was also some talk of the amusing book that we could write if we were to find a way to own it.
LikeLike
Teresa, yes, du Maurier and Mantel make a bit of a clash! A blogger’s retreat to Jamaica Inn would be a hoot. Walks on the moors, lots of places to hole up and read, and late nights talking books and telling stories 🙂
LikeLike
Imagine owning the real Jamaica Inn–woldn’t that be fun?! I imagine it is gorgeous there! Too bad this one didn’t quite click, but it’s hard when you are reading something you are really loving as then you often feel resentful having to read another book when you only want to read the other one (that sounds awfully convoluted but you know what I mean). I am tempted to reread this–was surprised that it went over so well with the Slaves. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by DdM save one book (that was actually a book her mentor had begun writing and she completed it upon his death), and I bet if I reread it now I would like it more. But timing is often everything. In any case I’m really glad it seemed to be such a positive read otherwise. I really must do better with Slaves reads this year….
LikeLike
Danielle, it would be lots of fun to own the place. Maybe if I buy a Powerball ticket this weekend and win the jackpot! 😉 I do think I would have liked the book better if I had not had to pull myself away from Mantel. I might watch the movie sometime, that would probably be lots of fun. Hopefully you can make it for the next Slaves read whatever it ends up being!
LikeLike
I think du Maurier is one of those writers who differs so much from book to book that it is perfectly possible to love some of her work and really dislike others. Have you read ‘My Cousin Rachel’? That has always stuck in my mind.
LikeLike
Alex, that is good to know about du Maurier! I have not read My Cousin Rachel, only this one and Rebecca. But I will keep My Cousin Rachel in mind for my next du Maurier foray.
LikeLike
I’m going to post on it, finally, tomorrow, I hope. I am all for a bloggers’ retreat at Jamaica Inn where we compose a thrilling thriller together!
LikeLike
Litlove, looking forward to your thoughts! Wouldn’t that bloggers’ retreat be a blast?!
LikeLike