Book Review: Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

Jamaica Inn is my fourth Daphne du Maurier novel (I’ve previously read Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Mary Anne). Unfortunately, while I did enjoy the premise and some of the aspects of the novel which I’ll discuss below, Jamaica Inn might be a dud for me. But it still ranks above Mary Anne. The best way I can describe it is that reading this felt like I was watching an old movie with obvious overacting. None of it felt naturally sinister like intended. 

Unlike in Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel, a lot of the characters in Jamaica Inn didn’t ring true, especially the Uncle Joss character. He really felt like a caricature, which was more than accentuated by his unnatural dialogue. He and his band of criminals were the worst part of the book, because they were the vehicles for suspense, and they were more ridiculous than scary. The “actual” villain of the novel, who was revealed in the twist at the end of the book, was more well-written, but his twist reveal was fairly obvious and unsurprising. 

I also didn’t fully understand Mary’s devotion to Aunt Patience. That was why Mary stayed at the Jamaica Inn even with the danger to herself, but I feel like Mary was the kind of person to realize that Patience is past saving, since she refuses to save herself. And Mary had previously seen her Aunt only once, so her loyalty is only won by a very fragile familial bond. Since I didn’t understand why Mary insisted on keeping herself in the middle of the action, all of her choices just felt like plot propellers.

But I did like the parallels between Mary and Aunt Patience, particularly in Mary’s choice at the end. That’s the reason I liked the romance between Mary and Jem in terms of its literary value, which I didn’t think I would until after finishing the novel. Based on the reviews I’ve seen, a lot of people are frustrated by the romance and Mary’s choice at the end, but I believe that was the point. Spoilers ahead. A side plot explored is the abusive relationship between Uncle Joss and Aunt Patience—how the romance started and how Patience got sucked in, how Uncle Joss’ charms turned sour, and how Aunt Patience ended up entirely under Joss’ control. Mary is very well aware of how Joss and Jem are similar, and she actively tries to convince herself of the differences between the brothers, which are truly enough to maybe convince some readers that Jem might be honorable in a shabby way. At the end of the novel, Mary just entirely succumbs to her feelings of devotion to Jem, saying, “I’ll take the risk, Jem, and chance your moods. […I’m sitting beside you] because I must; because now and forever more this is where I belong to be.” And the reader is left to wonder if she is just Aunt Patience reincarnated and if their relationship will turn out just as abusive and violent as Patience’s relationship with Joss.

I think the conveyance of the romance and the parallels between Mary and Patience were the signature du Maurier subtlety that I was missing throughout the other aspects of the novel.

I’ll read Frenchman’s Creek by du Maurier and see if I like it, but if I don’t, I might just have to accept that I’ve already read her best in Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel and not try to read her full works.