Jamaica Inn (Mass Market Paperback)

by Daphne Du Maurier (Author) "IT WAS a cold grey day in late November..." (more)
Key Phrases: black shovel hat, barred room, black pony, Mary Yellan, North Hill, Francis Davey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Jamaica Inn is a true classic. After the death of her mother, Mary Yellan travels to Jamaica Inn on the wild British moors to live with her Aunt Patience. The coachman warns her of the strange happenings there, but Mary is committed to remain at Jamaica Inn. Suddenly, her life is in the hands of strangers: her uncle, Joss Merlyn, whose crude ways repel her; Aunt Patience, who seems mentally unstable and perpetually frightened; and the enigmatic Francis Davey. But most importantly, Mary meets Jem Merlyn, Joss's younger brother, whose kisses make her heart race. Caught up in the danger at this inn of evil repute, Mary must survive murder, mystery, storms, and smugglers before she can build a life with Jem.

Product Description

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.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Avon (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380725398
• ISBN-13: 978-0380725397
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,287 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars HELLO?, January 3, 2000

By	Margaret Taylor (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Excuse me miss 17-year-old from the Netherlands but you just gave away the entire plot of the book. Nice going. Thanks. To anyone who wants to read it (luckily I already have) do NOT read the review from the girl from the Netherlands. It will ruin it for you.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This gothic is a classic with good reason, August 28, 2004

By	Kelly Cannon Hess (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gothic tale that rings dark and mysterious to the end., June 4, 2002

By	Denise Bentley "Kelsana" (The California Redwoods) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Mary Yellan is our spunky protagonist who has come to stay with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss, and evil man who is the landlord at Jamaica Inn. Early on she is warned of strange happenings at the Inn and after one look at the clientele she has learned to lock her door at night. Strange noises deep in the night alert her to the possibility of illegal activity but she remains silent at her aunt's request.

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