My Cousin Rachel in Retro Reads

Jul 28, 2020 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ marked it as on-hiatus · review of another edition

Shelves: gothic, suspense, classics, historical-fiction, mystery, failed-to-engage-me

I give up. At least for now. The library wants its copy back, and after 6 months and several renewals, I can't blame them. :) It just never really engaged me and I kept getting distracted by other shinier reads.

"On hiatus" is a nice way of saying DNF, but I plan to try again with this book sometime. ...more

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Apr 05, 2017 debbicat *made of stardust* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-authors, 2017-reads, buddy-read, audio-book, book-to-movie-challenge, audible, i-bought-it-or-own-it

Incredibly good! Full review to follow. Going on my top 10 list today. Wow!!!

My Review: (May 30, 2017)
This is now my favorite Daphne book so far. It does come quite close to Rebecca, which was my fave DM. book until this one. Like Rebecca, it is a mystery-romance and first published in 1951. I read this as a buddy read and enjoyed the discussion, which likely enhanced my reading pleasure. I can hardly wait to see the movie June 9, 2017. A little wiki note I found interesting is that the story ha Incredibly good! Full review to follow. Going on my top 10 list today. Wow!!!

My Review: (May 30, 2017)
This is now my favorite Daphne book so far. It does come quite close to Rebecca, which was my fave DM. book until this one. Like Rebecca, it is a mystery-romance and first published in 1951. I read this as a buddy read and enjoyed the discussion, which likely enhanced my reading pleasure. I can hardly wait to see the movie June 9, 2017. A little wiki note I found interesting is that the story has it's origins in a portrait of Rachel Carew at Anthony House in Cornwall, which du Maurier saw and took inspiration.

Philip Ashley is the narrator of the novel. He is a young and sheltered young man of 24. He is orphaned at age 7 and raised by his uncle Ambrose on the Coast of Cornwall. The setting is primarily on a large estate owned by Ambrose in Cornwall. Philip looks up to and greatly admires his uncle. They are quite close. Philip has one female friend, Louise. Other than that he has not really been around women and is a novice in their ways.

Ambrose has to travel due to health reasons and writes home that not only has he met a distant cousin of theirs in Florence, but, he actually has married her and has no plans to return to the estate in Cornwall. Philip is none too happy to hear of this news and is restless and discontent. He is jealous of Ambrose's new wife and suspects something is not right. We begin to wonder that too. Philip gets other correspondence that causes him to believe that Rachel is actually plotting against Ambrose. Then, Ambrose dies! Philip believes Rachel has murdered him. Rachel goes to visit her dead husband's estate and Philip. She is so beautiful, charming and kind....and as much as Philip wants to hate her and distrust her..even seek revenge against her ..he finds himself becoming quite infatuated with her, falling under her spell. She is all he thinks about and while there is a significant age gap, he becomes smitten with her.

I don't really want to give away anymore of the plot. Most know it...but, if not I wouldn't want to ruin it. I did go into it knowing the ending because I had seen an old black and white 1952 movie version of the book by Henry Koster. I truly enjoyed the way the novel played out. The suspense, the nail biting, the slow burn, the insanity at times, the cat and mouse game, the mysterious charm of Rachel. Did she do it???? I listened to the audio book and the actor who narrated it was superb. I highly recommend the audio version. I do own an old used bookstore copy..which I may read some day. It's suspense at it's best. I loved everything about it.

The ending is super clever and we had a great discussion about it. I wish I could say more...but, I'd better hold off. If you have not read this, you are in for a treat. It is Daphne at her best. And I have not read a better gothic. This book is pure pleasure to me. I think Rachel Weisz is going to be amazing as Rachel in the upcoming movie. ...more

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Apr 13, 2017 Andrea AKA Catsos Person rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads

Keeps you guessing

This book shows Du Maurier's cleverness as a writer in keeping the reader guessing as to the identity of the villain or even what is really happening.

The author's skill kept second-guessing my own understanding of what I read on the page

I liked this more than "Jamaica Inn," but "Rebecca" is still the best.

Retro Reads group April 2017 BOTM ...more

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Nov 22, 2015 Hana rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-reads, mystery, romance, gothic-scary

Engrossing tale of deadly obsessions, greed and infatuation. Is there a reliable narrator in the house? Probably not. Meanwhile...my kingdom for a cellphone instead of the interminably slow Royal Mail!

For what it's worth here's my take: (view spoiler) Engrossing tale of deadly obsessions, greed and infatuation. Is there a reliable narrator in the house? Probably not. Meanwhile...my kingdom for a cellphone instead of the interminably slow Royal Mail!

For what it's worth here's my take: (view spoiler)

I'm still not sure what all the botanical/farming imagery was about, but the only thing I liked about Rachel was that she was clearly a talented horticulturalist and a better-than-amateur landscape architect. The garden descriptions were great. Also there are some interesting feminist themes surrounding women's power/powerlessness in a very different time and culture.

Rated PG for fade to black sex and very weird emotions swirling about. ...more

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Aug 25, 2017 Skye rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My Cousin Rachel is a haunting, provocative tale of obsessive love and deceit. Ambrose is a wealthy land owner who raises his young cousin Philip and makes him heir to his estate; however, things are set into motion when Ambrose travels to Italy and meets their Cousin Rachel. This novel is narrated exclusively by Philip's perceptions, emotions and fears. Suspense slowly mounts throughout the novel and is beautifully executed by the writer of Rebecca. I have read this book more than once, but I a ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Elinor rated it really liked it

Shelves: old-houses

I wish Goodreads had a ten-star rating since every book I review has either 3, 4, or 5 stars. I don't read anything that warrants 1 or 2 stars, and being an author myself (and knowing how much hard work it is to write a book) I tend to rate everything a little higher than I might otherwise. If there were ten stars, I would give this book an eight.

It is beautifully written, well-constructed, and the characters are absolutely compelling. The story starts off slowly, which is often the case with o ...more

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Mar 11, 2018 Tania rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: virago, modern-classic, gothic

This is narrated by Philip Ashley, who is a rather unlikeable character. He has been brought up by his cousin Ambrose. Ambrose suffers from poor health and takes to going to Italy for the Winter. One year he meets and soon marries Rachel. When Ambrose dies shortly after this, Philip, who has been left everything in the will, becomes convinced Rachel Poisoned him. When she turns up at his house, he starts to become obsessed by her, and the rest of the novel becomes, did she or didn't she. I chang ...more

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Apr 14, 2017 Jennifer Leo rated it it was amazing

I liked this book as much as another du Maurier novel, Rebecca, which i wouldn't have thought possible. Very suspenseful with lots of twists and turns. Descriptions of life among the well-to-do in 19th-century Cornwall are vivid and beautifully written without detracting from the action. Will read it again, I'm sure, to catch details I may have missed the first time around. I listened to the audio edition read by Jonathan Pryce and thought he did an excellent job. ...more

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