Jamaica Inn

The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother's dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn. From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn's dark power. But never did Mary dream that she would become hopelessly ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within its crumbling walls -- or that a handsome, mysterious stranger would so incite her passions ... tempting her to love a man whom she dares not trust.

Mary becomes friends with the Vicar, an albino who has taken a bit of a fancy to her, and Jem her uncle's brother who is a rover and a thief. What is there in Mary's future on the moors, so sinister and dreary? Who's groans and cries are heard on the wind, as it washes up from the ocean, and penetrates the fog that lies like a blanket upon the moors?

A true Gothic adventure that will leave you feeling the depth of despair and the chill of the air as you wander the moors in search of the answers. Kelsana 6/4/02


Gothic Suspense at its Best   February 6, 2003
Diana F. Von Behren (Kenner, LA USA)
20 out of 23 found this review helpful

In "Myself When Young", author Daphne DuMaurier tells of a riding expedition on Bodmin Moors where lost and tired, she put up at a local hostelry called Jamaica Inn. "It was my first sight of the place that would later grip my imagination . . . a temperance house in 1920, it had been a coaching stop in the old days, and I thought of the travelers in the past who must have sought shelter there on the wild November nights, watched by the local moorland folk. No temperance house then, but a bar where the little parlor was, the drinking deep and long, fights breaking out, the sounds of oaths, of men falling."

And grip her imagination it did!

Du Maurier brings to life all the sounds and sights she imagined she saw on that day at a wayside inn with so much history. The lonely local, the brooding weather, the harsh tors looming over the moors and the bog, all make for what is now the almost trite accoutrements to any Gothic melodrama. But in Du Maurier's expert hands and imagination, the story that evolves could never be thought hackneyed.

Mary Yellen, a staunch working class young lady must leave her beloved farm on southern coast of Cornwall for the bleaker northern side. Here she will live at lonely Jamaica Inn with her mother's sister Patience and her innkeeper husband, Joss Merlyn. When she arrives, Mary, who prides herself on her good sense, intrinsic goodness and her willingness to work, finds her situation at the inn in dire opposition to anything in which she believes. Her heart breaks when she discovers her aunt has become a shadow of her once frivilous self, broken by the drunken Josh and his rude occupation. Mary's dream of travelers stopping at the inn and taking the usual friendly custom aburptly dissipates when she realizes the inn is no longer in use, but like her aunt, is just a shell of what it once was. Most distressing of all, she concludes that Joss's business is a treacherous and nefarious one which instead of commanding the respect of the local villagers and townspeople, causes them to turn away in helpless fear and disgust. Her guilt by association follows quite naturally and Mary vacillates between what she knows is right and her love of her childlike aunt. In her mind, her future spins out before her, likely to trail in the wake of her aunt's disastrous path.

The light of hope shines in the appearance of the landlord's brother, Jem. A much younger man than Joss, but similar in looks, Mary can well imagine what had enticed her aunt so many years ago. In spite of herself, she finds she has feelings for Jem that she must put aside as she comes to terms with what she must do for her aunt and her community. Like Du Maurier's other female heroines, Mary eventually succumbs to the world of men; she is dependent, knows it and comes to terms with her lot only by accepting her fate.

The story is told in the third person; we eventually discover the secret of Jamaica Inn as Mary does. On all levels, the story and its telling are superior to other books of this genre. Often dismissed as a romantic escape, the novel is nothing of the sort---it rather depicts the marital relationship and other man/woman situations with a violence that is disturbing. Mary does not find romance, she accepts that Jem is no better than another strong male. Another aspect of Du Maurier's fanatastic Cornwall comes alive as it did in her other novels, Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel and The House of the Strand. As a backup to the book, rent the Jane Seymour mini-series of the same name. The film representation doesn't really do justice to the literature or theme of Jamaica Inn, it relies instead on the brooding atmosphere and desperation of the heroine's plight rather than the true horror of the man/woman relationships.

I have read this book many times, but I find the best way to enjoy it is on unabridged audio--acted by a trained reader brings the words alive and forces you to listen (instead of skipping over) to the passages describing the moors.


This gothic is a classic with good reason   August 28, 2004
Kelly Cannon Hess (Dallas, TX United States)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful

JAMAICA INN has been on my "To Be Read" list for many years, so when I found an inexpensive paperback copy, it seemed like fate. Every bit as suspenseful as REBECCA but with a more engaging heroine, it kept me on the edge of my seat almost from the beginning.

Mary Yellan's mother dies, leaving her alone with a farm and no one to help her run it. (Apparently, in 19th century England, it was unthinkable that a 23-year-old woman should simply hire some help and keep the farm.) She sells up and goes to live in a distant county with an aunt she hasn't seen for ten years, but whom she remembers as pretty and vivacious. The aunt Patience she finds, however, is much changed. Now married to an abusive, drunken tyrant, Patience has relinquished her former self and become a cringing, wheedling shadow to her brutal husband. The couple reside at Jamaica Inn, an infamous establishment that respectable travelers have long abandoned.

The situation deteriorates further when inquisitive Mary discovers her uncle is involved in illegal dealings that include murder. Horrified, she stays at Jamaica Inn only for the sake of her aunt, whom she intends to rescue. She's befriended by the sympathetic vicar of a neighboring parish, and by her uncle's handsome brother, Jem, to whom she feels oddly drawn, despite his questionable livelihood as a horse thief.

In true Gothic style, the story hovers on the edges of believability. It doesn't pay to think too much on any one point. Mary displays the obligatory intelligence, pluck and curiosity of the gothic heroine, yet loses her courage and/or her smarts at just the points where her hesitation advances the plot. The villains of the story are pure evil without clear motivations. Jem is the most realistically drawn character.

But they don't write like Daphne DuMaurier anymore. Her richly descriptive style sets you squarely down in the midst of the Cornish moors, makes you see the stark granite rocks, feel the heavy air closing around you. Her pacing is nearly perfect, dragging only in one or two spots where I think she falters in her effort to prolong suspense. The story moves along so briskly that you're almost hypnotized into not noticing the plot's weaknesses. It certainly isn't hard to shuffle them to the back of your mind.

JAMAICA INN is well worth the read, especially if you're feeling a bit weary of "flavor-of-the-month" fiction. In particular, I found Ms. DuMaurier's portrayal of the local squire as a kind-hearted, blustering dullard interesting. I wonder if that was a reflection of current (1936) British attitudes toward the gentry. In a similar vein, the vicar's thoughts on religion must have been provocative at the time.


It may be becasue I am an inexperienced reader, or I do not   June 1, 2003
9 out of 13 found this review helpful

It may be becasue I am an inexperienced reader, or I do not appreciate the more complex novels - only simple plots, or that this is the first Daphne DuMaurier book that I have read, or that I am under 13 (used this review sheet for children) or that it is the most recent book I have finished (well there are a lot of "well it may be because"s, so I will get on with the review) but I think that this book is the best one that Daphne DuMaurier has written. She never goes over the top with description, or never reveals too much or too little (if it's a mysterious character) about a person's personality. She does everything just right, and weaves the words of the book brilliantly.
In my personal opinion the part where Mary was taken to the shore (I won't reveal too much) dragged on a bit. I kept loosing my place in the book and I found it didn't really matter where I started reading again, but that was just one chapter.

For some reason I think that this book is good to read on holiday, somewhere in Britain, even if it's not Bodmin where this book is set (well, Jamaica Inn is near Bodmin anyway).