Jamaica Inn in Around the Year in 52 Books

Oct 20, 2018 John Warner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, suspense-thriller

Recently orphaned when her mother dies, Mary Yellan moves in with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn. The former, one a happy-go-lucky young woman is now a haggard and anxious woman cowered by her abusive, drunkard husband. Her uncle is the landlord of Jamaica Inn, an isolated business on the Cornwall moors. What puzzles Mary is that there are no customers. Her uncle tells her that occasionally a number of men will come by at night and she is expected to assist her aunt in serving them drin ...more

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Oct 09, 2022 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, fiction, suspense-thriller, classic, romantic-suspense, audio, era-early-mid-1800s, crime, women-on-the-edge

4.5 stars

This book is so over-the-top that I have to wonder if du Maurier wrote it as a parody of the sensation novel? Because everything is to the extreme. The landscape is extreme, the people are extreme, the action is extreme - nothing is just a little bit or a moderate amount, it's all pegged at MAX. The men are all buffoons, her Aunt Patience is a flibbertigibbet, Mary is supposed to be clever and brave but ... no, she's often an idiot too. It's not all bad, for what it is. But I was e 4.5 stars

This book is so over-the-top that I have to wonder if du Maurier wrote it as a parody of the sensation novel? Because everything is to the extreme. The landscape is extreme, the people are extreme, the action is extreme - nothing is just a little bit or a moderate amount, it's all pegged at MAX. The men are all buffoons, her Aunt Patience is a flibbertigibbet, Mary is supposed to be clever and brave but ... no, she's often an idiot too. It's not all bad, for what it is. But I was expecting a serious gothic novel, and I got something ridiculous instead. Once I recalibrated my expectations, I learned to love this book.

Sometimes the writing is wonderful, but other times it's a fail. Every time Mary's aunt appears, she is "working her mouth." Anyone who describes Mary ends up referring to monkeys (although I think they mean it as a compliment?). The rain is always a "mizzle." It's hard to believe that just two years later, the same author published Rebecca.

THAT SAID ... by the time I was about 3/4 of the way through this book, I could not put it down and I HAD to find out what happened. I canceled all my plans until I finished, with my heart in my throat. I was completely won over. If Catherine and Heathcliff had not been complete assholes, this might have been their story instead of the one they got.

I was surprised to find that Jamaica Inn is a real place!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica... The inn really was a center for smugglers, and today it contains a small "Museum of Smugglers." This book was inspired by du Maurier's stay at the inn in 1930.

I listened to the audiobook read by Tony Britton, who was not a good choice for this book, because his version of women's voices is pretty darned similar to Monty Python's women's voices. You can't help but laugh when you hear that. Why didn't they choose a woman to read this? It's from Mary's POV, after all. Britton's reading really killed this book for me. It is a testament to the power of du Maurier's story-telling that I ended up loving this. It is possible that I would have loved this book from the start if I had not listened to the audiobook with Britton's ridiculously high-pitched women's voices. ...more

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Jul 09, 2016 Trish rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zsrc-2016-2-summer, gothic-or-ghosts, classics-c20

Definitely written in the 19 century Gothic style - I had to keep remembering that it was actually written in the 1930s. A bit variable - du Maurier sets the scene well, and builds the suspense and discomfort nicely, but the heroine swings far too much between feisty and strong and "oh I've been captured", which was a bit annoying. ...more

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Sep 26, 2023 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm not a REBECCA fan, so I wasn't eager to dive into another du Maurier book. I only did it because of book club! JAMAICA INN was a more compelling read than I expected it to be and I ended up liking it more than I did REBECCA. Which isn't to say I loved the book, but I didn't have to force myself to finish it like I did with REBECCA.

du Maurier is a master at creating a haunting, sinister Gothic vibe in her novels. JAMAICA INN has a desolate Cornish setting, complete with jagged rock formations ...more

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Nov 05, 2019 Ron rated it really liked it

Mary Yellan is a Nineteenth Century Cornish farm girl, orphaned at age 23 and left alone on a bankrupt farm with no choice but to go to her Aunt's home, which turns out to be a creepy, forsaken edifice formerly used as an Inn and dominated by her alcoholic, violent Uncle. Mary remains out of loyalty to her browbeaten Aunt, despite qualms over the mysterious criminal activity in the decaying outpost, and justifiable concerns over her personal safety.

The ghostly atmosphere of the Cornish moors dom ...more

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Jan 30, 2016 Jesse rated it liked it

Shelves: around-the-year-in-52-books, 2016-popsugar-reading-challenge

I've been meaning to read this book for a long time. Du Maurier's Rebecca is one of my top 10 books of all time, so I had high hopes. Maybe unrealistically high, as it turns out. Jamaica Inn is a fine novel, and I really enjoyed it, but it falls short of the tension and intrigue of Rebecca. I found Mary to be a somewhat annoying protagonist, inexplicably oscillating between complete moral rectitude and a "do anything, no matter how illegal, to help Aunt Patience" demeanor. Joss Merlyn is a belie ...more

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Dec 16, 2021 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Effectively atmospheric. A young woman travels to her only living relative who is married to the keeper of an inn with a terrible reputation. The moors, the weather and the characters are all well drawn. One of the books that I would emerge from to be surprised that the sun was shining, the wind was calm and my companions were warm and pleasant!

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May 20, 2018 Joan rated it really liked it

Continuing with my Cornwall books with this, going to Jamaica Inn soon. Lots of suspense and atmosphere. She sure could turn a phrase!

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Mar 11, 2014 Jason McKinney rated it liked it

This is a diverting read that is entertaining enough and certainly maintains a certain amount of suspense throughout, however it does begin to show its age a little bit through an overuse of melodrama at times and the plot is somewhat predictable. All and all, not a bad beach read though.

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