Top Ten Tuesday | Yellow, is it me you're looking for?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Books With My Favorite Colour On the Cover (or In the Title)'. So I have two 'interesting' facts for you: 1) my favourite colour is yellow and 2) I'm slightly colourblind. Usually I don't struggle with it at all, but from time to time I'll find it difficult to tell the difference between two very similar colours or a top that's a really bright lime green or light orange will look bright yellow to me. The only time I really had a problem was the first time I had my own TV in my room when I was younger - I was convinced it was purple but according to literally everyone else who came in my room it was actually blue. Oh well.

Anyway, I just thought this would be worth mentioning just in case you look at any of these covers and think 'Uh... that's gold/green/orange' - I promise I'm not being dumb, it just looks yellow to me.

P.S. There seems to be this weird urban myth that only boys can be colourblind - it's much more common in boys, but it does happen to us gals too from time to time.

P.P.S. Why aren't there more bright yellow books?

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley: I love it when bright colours like yellow are paired with greys and blacks. This is still Talley's best book so far in my opinion, but if you're interested in checking out some wlw YA stories Talley is definitely an author you should seek out.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: It's in the title and on the cover! I haven't read any of Adichie's novels yet but loved her short story collection, so hopefully I'll get to them soon.

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀: This was one of my favourite books of 2017, and my edition also has beautiful, bright yellow sprayed pages.

Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently by Emer O'Toole: I'd like to read more non-fiction this year and this one's been on my radar for a while now. I love the cover.

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg: I've only heard of this one in the past few months and it sounds amazing, I'd like to get my hands on a copy soon.

Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger: I haven't actually started Carriger's Finishing School series yet, but I think the covers are so fun and I love this one in particular. I'm like a magpie; I will gravitate towards any book that's bright yellow.

The Bees by Laline Paull: I've owned my copy of The Bees for a while now and still haven't read it. Oops. It does sound interesting and I do want to cross it off my TBR at some point, but I can't deny I mainly picked it up because of the cover.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: Not my favourite novel of du Maurier's, but Jamaica Inn is still a lot of fun - it's the perfect book if you're not feeling dark enough for Rebecca or light-hearted enough for Frenchman's Creek. I recommend reading it over Christmas if you are going to pick it up!

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers: It's mainly blue, but I was probably more excited than is normal to see a bit of yellow sneaking onto the cover of Chambers' latest sci-fi. I'm looking forward to this one!

Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland: I was very kindly sent an ARC of this book by the author and I still haven't read it because I'm a terrible human being. I was sent this back when I was starting to blog regularly after uni and I'd never been offered an ARC before, so I said 'yes please!' without realising that I'm the kind of person that doesn't always do that well with reading ARCs. I still have it, though, and one of these days I'm going to read it because it sounds so fun.

Top Ten Tuesday | Playing Dress-Up

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Christmas will always be my favourite holiday, but Halloween is a very close second - which is probably why I love The Nightmare Before Christmas so much. Today's theme is a Halloween freebie and, while I thought recommending you some Halloween reads would be fun, I thought I could do something a little different: today I'm going to talk about couples in books, and who I think they should dress up as, from another book/movie, for Halloween!

Molly and Reid from Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited as Arwen and Aragorn from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Given that Reid is the ultimate Tolkien superfan, I'd be very surprised if he didn't want to dress up as Aragorn with Molly beside him as his beautiful elf queen.

Aileana and Kiaran from Elizabeth May's The Falconer as Titania and Bottom from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: An opportunity for Aileana to be a faerie queen and dress Kiaran in donkey ears - why would she say no?

Cress and Thorne from Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles as Leia and Han from Star Wars: Honestly, can't you imagine Thorne taking great delight in dressing up as Han Solo? And if it meant he got a chance to see Cress dressed as Princess Leia, he'd definitely be all for it. Besides Cress loves make-believe, she loves pretending to be someone else, so I think she'd have a lot of fun pretending to be the galaxy's greatest princess and general.

Nix and Kashmir from Heidi Heilig's The Girl From Everywhere as Elizabeth and Will from Pirates of the Caribbean: From one pirate ship to another, I think Nix and Kashmir are both accustomed to having to pretend to be someone else and they'd enjoy playing the part of these two. Then again, Kashmir might think of himself as more of a Jack Sparrow than a Will Turner...

Bella and Edward from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight as Mina and Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula: If the two of them never do this then they're missing out on the one good opportunity their relationship can give them.

Pei and Ashby from Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet as Zoe and Wash from Firefly: TLWtaSAP has been compared to Firefly a lot, and I can understand why - I think Ashby would be missing a trick if he and Pei didn't dress up as these two.

Maxim and Mrs. de Winter from Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca as Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre: I've always wondered if du Maurier was a little inspired by Jane Eyre when writing Rebecca, and I don't want to say much more than that - if you haven't read either novel I don't want to spoil them for you, but they're both great books!

Meche and Sebastian from Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Signal to Noise as Anne and Captain Wentworth from Jane Austen's Persuasion: I can't imagine Meche is a big fan of Austen, but given he's much more of a reader than Meche is I like to think Sebastian has read some Austen and would get a lot of fun out of seeing Meche in a bonnet. Both these novels share the theme of second chances, something I think Sebastian, at least, might appreciate.

Alexia and Conall from Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf: If I was married to a werewolf, I'd take great pleasure in dressing him up as the Big Bad Wolf for Halloween, and I'd be disappointed if Alexia never thought of doing the same to her husband.

Sue and Maud from Sarah Waters' Fingersmith as Carmilla and Laura from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla: Carmilla is one of my favourite pieces of Victorian literature, a vampire story that pre-dates Dracula and has some serious homoerotic vibes. Given that Sue and Maud are also lovers from the 19th century, I think they'd have a lot of fun pretending to be these two.

What did you talk about this week?

Books I Want to Re-Read

We all have a different relationship to re-reading, whether it's something we love to do and do often or something we never do. I'm a reader who's gone from one extreme to the other as I've grown; when I was younger I read and re-read my favourite books time and time and time again and was never any less delighted by them, and was recently reminded of this when I talked about Jacqueline Wilson last week.

I re-read Wilson's books an extortionate amount as a child, as well as my favourite Roald Dahls, such as The Magic Finger and Fantastic Mr. Fox, and my extensive Horrible Histories collection, but as I got older I began to devour more and more books until I didn't have the time to re-read if I wanted to keep reading new things. I fell in love with discovering new stories and characters and worlds and authors, just as I'd fallen in love with that safety net of familiarity in my childhood, and in doing so my love for re-reading was forgotten.

Then recently, having read Kirsty Logan's A Portable Shelter (reviewed here) and craving more short stories, I re-read Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (reviewed here) and really enjoyed the experience - especially as I didn't actually like the book the first time I read it about seven years ago. Now I'm keen to make more time for re-reading, and below are four books from my shelves I'd like to re-read, all for various reasons!

I first read Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus when it came out. Everyone was talking about it and I was certainly intrigued, which was unusual for me because I generally tend to be wary of hyped books since the dark reading years of my teens when every YA book was the same. I ended up enjoying the book, but not as much as I'd hoped and definitely not as much as what felt like every other reader. Morgenstern's descriptions and her world-building were stunning, I loved the idea of her circus, but I need characters to grab hold of me and make me care and something about Celia and Marco prevented me from doing that. Individually I quite liked them - Celia, in particular, and her relationship with her father intrigued me - but I didn't understand why the two of them liked each other and when I reached the end I realised I hadn't really cared what happened, I was just ready for it to end. My reading tastes have changed a lot since then, and I'd like to re-read this book at some point to see if I've grown to appreciate it more or if I feel just as 'meh' about the whole thing as I did then.

Sadly, you can only read Rebecca for the first time once, and I loved it when I did. If you haven't read it yet I can't recommend it enough, it's du Maurier's masterpiece and such a brilliantly written and plotted novel - it's all the more enjoyable the less you know going into it. Knowing what happens in the story and how it ends, I'd love to re-read it and see if du Maurier left any little nuggets of premonition for her re-readers.

The Goblin Emperor is one I've already re-read twice (once as an audiobook, so I guess that was more of a re-listen) and was the first book I re-read in a long, long time when I picked it up for a second time last year having loved it in 2015. If someone put a gun to my head and forced me to choose one all-time favourite book, I think I'd have to say this one - Maia is certainly one of my favourite protagonists of all time and I love how, more than anything, this book is hopeful, decent fantasy and such a soothing antidote to Games of Thrones' brutality. I can't get enough of this book, and I think it'll be one I continue to re-read until Katherine Addison gives me another book set in this world.

Persuasion was Jane Austen's final novel, published posthumously, and while Pride and Prejudice is a firm favourite it's actually Persuasion that's considered to be her masterpiece by many Austen fans. Until the past year or so, I definitely wouldn't have described myself as one such fan. Like The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories I was introduced to Austen through education when I was given this book to read during sixth form and it woke a hatred of Austen in me that it's taken me a long time to shake off. My reading tastes hadn't developed enough at the time for me to appreciate that Austen was writing a very tongue-in-cheek form of societal critique, and I was so frustrated that a woman I was constantly being told was an early feminist writer had written novel after novel about love and marriage. Why couldn't any of her heroines just stay single? Then I did that thing that most of us we all do: I grew up. As a twenty-something I understand Austen far more than eighteen year old me ever did, something I'm sure my English teacher would be incredibly proud of, and now I'd like to give Persuasion a second chance. I've actually started my re-read of this one and, while it hasn't completely grabbed me, I'm not hating it...

Do you re-read books? Is it something you'd like to do more of or less? Which books would you like to re-read one day?

This Week in Books | 07/06/17

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Now: I'm in one of those moods at the moment where there's so much I want to read and so little time (work's very busy at the moment, so I'm not finding much time to just read one book) but as the winner of the Baileys Prize is being announced today and Stay With Me is on the shortlist, I'm really in the mood to pick it up when I get home this evening. I've heard amazing things about it and I know it's a lot of people's favourite to win the Baileys Prize, but whether it wins or not I'll be starting it tonight.

Then: I finished My Cousin Rachel at the weekend in anticipation of the new adaptation, starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin, which I'm going to see on Friday. Sadly it's probably the du Maurier novel I've enjoyed the least so far, but I did still like it. I reviewed it here if you'd like to know my thoughts on it!

Next: This book is proof of how busy I've been, as I received this via NetGalley around a week ago now and I still haven't started it, which is ridiculous considering I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia's work. To me The Beautiful Ones sounds like a Jane Austen novel with magic set in Mexico. What's not to love? I'll definitely be getting to this one soon, but I'd like to read Stay With Me first.

What are you reading?

Review | My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

My Cousin Rachel

by Daphne du Maurier

My Rating: 

Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in Philip as his heir, a man who will love his grand home as much as he does himself. But the cosy world the two construct is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries - and there he dies suddenly. In almost no time at all, the new widow—Philip's cousin Rachel—turns up in England. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious woman like a moth to the flame. And yet…might she have had a hand in Ambrose's death?

Daphne du Maurier's become one of my favourite authors in recent years, and after I read and enjoyed Frenchman's Creek, Rebecca and Jamaica Inn it was only natural that I was eventually going to pick up My Cousin Rachel, especially with the forthcoming adaptation starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin. Unfortunately this is probably the du Maurier novel I've enjoyed the least so far, which isn't to say I didn't like it, but I've definitely enjoyed her other work much more.

When Philip Ashley becomes a very young orphan, he is taken in by his much older cousin, Ambrose Ashley, a proud bachelor who adopts Philip as his heir knowing he has no intention to marry and have children of his own. The two live together harmoniously, Philip idolising his cousin in an almost unhealthy manner, until Ambrose takes off to Europe for his usual annual holiday only to never return. Philip receives letter after letter revealing his cousin has fallen madly in love with a half Italian, half British widow, Rachel, and the two of them marry. Months later Ambrose dies, his last letter to Philip seeming to apply his new wife has had something to do with it. When Philip has the chance to meet his cousin's bride he's determined to make her admit her guilt, but finds himself being enchanted by her himself.

We'll start with what I liked, because what I really didn't like about this book is sitting at the back of my throat like a foul taste.

As always, du Maurier's writing didn't fail to sweep me away. I love the way she writes; I'm not even sure that I'd describe du Maurier as the world's greatest writer, though of course she certainly isn't bad, but what she is is a fantastic storyteller. She sets a scene and weaves a tale that's so engrossing, with characters who are so well realised, that I'm baffled there was room for all of the characters she created during her career in her head.

My Cousin Rachel can certainly be described as a Gothic novel; there's a real sense of uncertainty throughout the book that I really enjoyed as du Maurier plays around with the possibility of Ambrose's death being a deliberate murder or simply the mental unravelling of a man who has a history of mental illness in the family, as does Philip. In fact Philip seems to take on the stereotypical role of the Gothic heroine, an unworldly, virginal man isolated in a country estate and at the mercy of a potentially dangerous outsider.

Speaking of potentially dangerous outsiders, I liked Rachel a lot, she was probably my favourite character in the novel. I'm always intrigued by characters who are complex, so complex that you like and dislike them in equal measure and are never quite sure which side of them you should trust more, particularly when the story is being told by a person who both loves and despises that character. I spent most of the novel unsure as to what the outcome was going to be (although I'm a tad annoyed that the trailer for the new adaptation, which I'd been avoiding, popped up on the tv one evening and revealed a huge plot point just before I got to it in the book) and while I did enjoy that suspense, I do also think the book could have been shorter than it is. Then again, that's probably because it would have meant spending less time with my main problem with the novel: the main character.

Philip is so, so irritating. He's misogynistic, ignorant, brooding, sulky and, on one occasion, quite violent, all while feeling terribly sorry for himself and pining for his cousin. I don't doubt for a minute that Philip would love his cousin, the man essentially raised him, but there's something almost homoerotic about his jealousy towards his cousin's wife, and when he wasn't trying to be with his cousin he was trying to be his cousin. From an English graduate's perspective Philip would be a great character to write an essay about, but he wasn't fun to read about for pure enjoyment. I found him childish and whiny, and it's all down to him that, so far, this has been my least favourite du Maurier novel. I didn't care what happened to him and I'd've much rather read a story about Rachel, particularly as she has spent most of her life in Florence which just so happens to my favourite European city. I'm a little bit obsessed with Italy, so it's a shame a du Maurier book with so much of Italy in it didn't quite tick all my boxes.

So would I recommend My Cousin Rachel? Yes, especially if you're already a du Maurier fan, but I do think it's longer than it needs to be and that it has an exceptionally irritating hero. If those kinds of things don't bother you I'm sure you'll enjoy this novel even more than I did, and if they do I promise you'll still love du Maurier's raw talent for storytelling.

Top Ten Tuesday | Things I Want My (Hypothetical) Daughter to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a Mother's Day freebie, which is weird for me as Mother's Day's in March in the UK. I remember doing something along the lines of my favourite mothers in fiction some time last year, it doesn't feel like long ago anyway, so today I'm going to talk about the books I'd want my daughter to read.

I don't have any children, and I don't know if I'll ever have any, but if I ever have a daughter I hope she reads these books:

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: If I ever have a daughter, I want her to know there's nothing wrong with the word 'feminist' and there's certainly nothing wrong with identifying as one. Feminism means equality, not misandry, and I want her to grow up fighting for the equal rights of everyone, in whichever way she feels most comfortable doing it. This little book is an ideal introduction to feminism, and I hope, if I ever have a daughter, she doesn't have to fight as much as I've had to, and her daughters after her have to fight even less.

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: I really, really enjoyed this memoir about Samantha Ellis's relationship with her favourite heroines throughout her life; she thinks about the effect these heroines had on her growing up, and returns to them to see if they still make her feel the way they once made her feel now. It got me thinking about the heroines in my life, and I'd love to share that with my hypothetical daughter, too.

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman: This is the first novel I can remember reading that made me bawl. Noughts & Crosses is something of a British children's classic now, I'm not sure how well-known it is outside the UK but I think it's fairly well-known, and it's the first book that really made me think about race and terrorism and how to see something from both sides. It's still one of my favourites.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: There are some books in the world that are perfect books, and Rebecca is one such book. Daphne du Maurier has quickly become one of my favourite authors after I started reading her work a few years ago. You can only read Rebecca for the first time once and it's an experience I think every reader should try.

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister: The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic, but the picture book I remember loving most when I was little is The Rainbow Fish. It's a lovely story with a lovelier message and I adored it.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling: Does this warrant an explanation? I was lucky enough to grow up as part of the Potter generation, it'd be great to share that with my children.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This novelisation of the story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland is fiction, there's no way of knowing if Agnes Magnúsdóttir was simply a murderess or a woman who wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this book is a brilliant reminder that there are two sides to every story, and sometimes people are forced into criminality by situations they can't help and are then punished for it. I want any children I might have to be able to consider both sides of a story.

The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla: I'm proud to live in a multi-cultural country and recent political events have frightened me a lot. I don't want to live in a country built on ignorance, discrimination and prejudice and if I ever have children I want them to be open-minded, kind and aware of the struggles other people might face simply because they're viewed as 'other'.

The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson: Jacqueline Wilson was my favourite writer growing up, she was never afraid to tackle issues like bullying, foster care, mental health, terminal illness and many others. The Illustrated Mum was always my favourite.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: The relationships between mothers and daughters are fairly toxic in this novel, which was my favourite read of last year, and if I ever have a daughter I'd want her to read this so she'd know that sometimes parents make mistakes, sometimes they make terrible mistakes, and it's okay for her to tell me how she feels and to pursue the things in life that will make her happy. It's her life to live, not mine.

What did you talk about this week?

This Week in Books | 10/05/17

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Now: I've returned to one of my favourite authors, Daphne du Maurier, to read My Cousin Rachel ahead of the film adaptation starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin which is due to be released next month. I'm enjoying it so far, but that's no surprise - du Maurier's work is always a treat.

Then: I picked up The Doll's Alphabet after receiving it from Moth Box, and after recently reading Diving Belles (reviewed here) I was in the mood to read more short story collections. I read a little bit from this to get the feel for what it was like and then couldn't put it down, but I can't say I loved it. Camilla Grudova writes beautifully, her stories read like weird, grotesque dreams and there were some stories I don't think I quite 'got'. I did like it, though - look out for my review soon!

Next: Natalie @ A Sea Change and I are taking part in our own version of Elena @ Elena Read Books' BookBuddyAthon - check out my TBR here! - and this is the book Nat chose for me out of three options I gave her, all of which I've received to review from NetGalley. See What I Have Done is a novelisation of the story of Lizzie Borden, and as I recently watched a documentary about murder in the 19th century I'm definitely in the mood to pick this up. However, The Doll's Alphabet was very dark and My Cousin Rachel is quite gloomy so far, so I might opt for something more cheerful once I've finished My Cousin Rachel.

What are you reading?

Top Ten Tuesday | Cover Lover

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a cover theme freebie, so I thought I'd share my ten favourite historical fiction covers!

Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre: I still haven't read this, I haven't heard the best reviews, but I will always love that cover. It reminds me of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette with that juxtaposition of the historic and the modern.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: Daphne du Maurier's books have many pretty covers, and rightly so, but I love how nautical this edition of Jamaica Inn is. I didn't love Jamaica Inn a huge amount when I read it, though all of du Maurier's novels pale in comparison to Rebecca, but it's a fun book and a great one to read if you happen to be visiting Cornwall.

Witch Child by Celia Rees: The cover of Witch Child is what convinced me to pick up a copy in my early teens, and it's thanks to this book that I love historical fiction so much now. This cover is haunting and I can't help but be drawn in to those eyes.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge: I will love anything that has some of Chris Riddell's art on it. I haven't read this one yet, but I'm glad to have this edition on my shelves.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: This cover has so much character, and I think it's certainly one of the many reasons this book did so well when it was released. If you haven't read this one yet I recommend giving it a try - it's a very good book!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: My favourite covers are simplistic ones, and that's why I love these editions of Waters' novels. This edition of Fingersmith, in particular, I like a lot; I don't own many books with grey covers at all, but this book uses the colour well.

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown: This book is even more beautiful in person because it's textured. I haven't this one yet either, but it's a recent release and I'm planning to pick it up soon.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: I really like these editions of Margaret Atwood's books too, with bold colours and a black and white image in the centre, and this edition of Alias Grace always catches my eye.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry: I own the normal hardback edition, which I think is beautiful, but I love the colours on this special edition, too.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon: Again, I love a simplistic cover and this one's as simple as they come.

What did you talk about this week?

Literary Locations: A New Series

So I've decided to start a new series on my blog, one that will be updated as and when it can be. Living in Britain I'm lucky enough to have access to quite a lot of literary places, whether they're houses of famous authors, such as the Brontës or Jane Austen, or places that have been used while filming adaptations.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to visit even more places, and I thought it'd be fun to document what I get up to on my blog - not only so I can share these places with you, particularly those of you who live outside the UK, but also to encourage me to go out and see these places for myself!

Why am I only mentioning this new series now? Because I'm off to Cornwall at the end of this month, and I'm intending to visit Jamaica Inn while I'm there! I read Jamaica Inn earlier this year - and reviewed it here - and can't say no to the opportunity to go and see the real Jamaica Inn for myself.

With a history of smuggling, Jamaica Inn is still a working pub. You can stay over night and even celebrate your wedding here, or visit the Inn's own smuggling museum, and there are even Murder Mysteries and Ghost Hunts to participate in. It sounds like such a cool place, so look out for my post on the real Jamaica Inn in August!

Review | Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

Jamaica Inn

by Daphne du Maurier

My Rating: 

Her mother's dying request takes Mary Yellan on a sad journey across the bleak moorland of Cornwall to reach Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. With the coachman's warning echoing in her memory, Mary arrives at a dismal place to find Patience a changed woman, cowering from her overbearing husband, Joss Merlyn. 

Affected by the Inn's brooding power, Mary is thwarted in her attention to reform her aunt, and unwillingly drawn into the dark deeds of Joss and his accomplices. And, as she struggles with events beyond her control, Mary is further thrown by her feelings for a man she dare not trust...

If Daphne du Maurier had only ever written Rebecca, she'd still be a famous author now. Luckily for us, du Maurier wrote a heck of a lot!

Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek and Jamaica Inn are du Maurier's most well-known novels, and as I've already read Rebecca and Frenchman's Creek, I figured it was about time I got Jamaica Inn under my belt - especially as I might be visiting the real Jamaica Inn later this year!

For me du Maurier is such an easy author to read; I open a du Maurier book and I sink into the story, and Jamaica Inn was no different. Mary Yellan, like all of du Maurier's heroines I've read so far, is so present and jumps from the page. What I love about du Maurier is that she wrote so much, a lot of it historical fiction, and yet none of her work ever feels samey; The Second Mrs. de Winter, Dona St. Columb and Mary Yellan are all so separate from each other, and when pretty much everything du Maurier wrote is compared with Rebecca I love that she wrote so many different kinds of stories so it's almost impossible to directly compare any of her other work with Rebecca. (Aside, perhaps, from My Cousin Rachel, which I've heard is the closest of her novels to Rebecca).

Where Dona St. Columb is privileged and selfish and The Second Mrs. de Winter is meek and shy, Mary Yellan is a tough, salt of the earth kind of girl; she's not afraid of hard work and she's no stranger to how difficult life can be. Mary doesn't have any fantasies about falling passionately in love or becoming an advocate for woman's rights, she just wants to live in the countryside and run her own farm. But when your fate's in Daphne du Maurier's hands, you're destined for something more troublesome than farmwork.

After Mary's beloved mother dies she's sent to Bodmin Moor to live with her Aunt Patience at Jamaica Inn, but when she arrives she discovers that the bubbly, lovely woman she remembers has transformed into a woman who is constantly terrified, thanks to her brutish husband Joss Merlyn. Mary works at her uncle and aunt's inn, where no one ever stays, and soon discovers Jamaica Inn's dangerous secret, all while battling the strange attraction she feels to Joss's younger brother, Jem.

Considering Jamaica Inn was written before Rebecca, I've always thought it unfair that readers who read Rebecca first mark Jamaica Inn down because it isn't Rebecca, but now that I've read Jamaica Inn myself, having read Rebecca, I can understand their point of view a whole lot more. I didn't compare Jamaica Inn with Rebecca, they're two very different stories, but they do have similar themes; they're both fairly Gothic, with heroines in isolated places that feel like characters in their own right, and questionable love interests. In my edition of Jamaica Inn there's an introduction from historical fiction author Sarah Dunant, who claims that in Jamaica Inn it's easy to see that du Maurier was 'on her way' to Rebecca, and I'd agree with that, there's just that extra something missing from Jamaica Inn that makes Rebecca so special.

The more I think about it, the more I think the main problem I had with Jamaica Inn is that it's trying to be two different novels at once. Set in Cornwall, at the height of Cornish smuggling, there's not quite enough action to make this an adventurous, historical romp - Mary spends most of her time cooped up in Jamaica Inn or wandering alone on Bodmin Moor - but at the same time it's not quite slow-moving and atmospheric enough to be the kind of Gothic novel that Rebecca is. It never fully satisfies either type of story, so I couldn't fall in love with it the same way I fell in love with du Maurier's other work.

While this may be my least favourite du Maurier so far, though I still really enjoyed it, I do think Jamaica Inn has a fascinating villain. I won't say too much, I don't want to spoil it for anyone (though I have a feeling the villain is fairly obvious once you get into the book) but he was both unsettling and yet strangely enticing. In fact the villain may have been my favourite character in the book, because while Mary is written very well, as are Jem, Joss and Patience, she just didn't capture me quite as much as the villain did.

As I said above Mary is very different from the other du Maurier heroines I've met, and that I did really appreciate; both Dona and The Second Mrs. de Winter are romantic people, in very different ways, and while Mary does experience a romance of her own it's very different to the other du Maurier books I've read. Mary thinks about romance in the same way she thinks about animals on the farm - at some point it's natural for them to gravitate towards a member of the opposite sex, even produce offspring, but it's not something they think passionately about, if they think about it at all. I found it really refreshing to meet a heroine who was written in the '30s who has such a casual, practical opinion of relationships.

Ultimately Jamaica Inn is well-written, easy to read and a lot of fun, as well as being sinister in places, and I did enjoy it. If you ever find yourself stranded on Bodmin Moor, this would be the perfect book to have with you!

This Week in Books | 20/04/16

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

NOW: I've picked up Jamaica Inn and so far I'm enjoying it. I love Daphne du Maurier, she's well on her way to being one of my favourite writers, and I think I might be going to the real Jamaica Inn in the summer so I'm looking forward to getting this book under my belt!

THEN: I recently read Karen Russell's debut collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, and unfortunately I didn't like it as much as I hoped I would. Look out for my review next week!

NEXT: Tomorrow is the release day of Julia Ember's debut, Unicorn Tracks, which I'm very excited to read. I've pre-ordered a copy and I'll be diving into it as soon as it arrives!

What have you been reading recently?

Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Books Every Lover of Jane Eyre Should Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

In nine days time, on the 21st April, it's Charlotte Brontë's 200th birthday. It seemed wrong not to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's most famous authors, so today I have ten recommendations for any fans of her most famous work, Jane Eyre!

If you haven't read Jane Eyre and/or are completely unfamiliar with the story, I'd recommend you stop reading now - I don't want to spoil anything for you if it's a novel you still want to read!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: It's practically in the title! Fforde's Thursday Next series takes place in a world in which our literary characters are very real, and when Jane Eyre disappears it's up to Thursday Next to find her.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë: Anne Brontë's often forgotten in favour of her sisters, which is a real shame considering she may actually be the most feminist of the three. One of the reasons she may be lesser known is that Charlotte decided not to reprint The Tenant of Wildfell Hall after Anne's death, so I think it's only fair she gets a mention here! Like Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey is based on the sisters' time as governesses, though Agnes Grey may be a more realistic portrayal of the job...

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: If you enjoyed Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy Daphne du Maurier's. Mrs. de Winter is not quite as fiery as Jane, but I've always found quite a few similarities between Jane Eyre and Rebecca, and often wondered if du Maurier was inspired by Jane Eyre at all when she was writing her most famous novel. It's also just a fantastic book, so you should read it whether you're a Jane Eyre fan or not!

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: Samantha Ellis's memoir is all about her relationship with her favourite literary heroines, and the book actually sprang from a conversation between herself and her best friend in which they were discussing whether it was better to be like Jane Eyre or Cathy Earnshaw. If you're new to non-fiction this is a brilliant starting point - it's a great memoir.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: Yet another book you should read whether you're a fan of Jane Eyre or not because it's just that good, but this is another story that gave me some Jane Eyre vibes when I read it. The Miniaturist felt like a coming-of-age novel to me in much the same way that Jane Eyre does. Read it for yourself and see if you agree!

Lirael by Garth Nix: Plot-wise Lirael is nothing like Jane Eyre, but character-wise? There's something about Lirael that reminds me of a fantastical Jane Eyre; her sad childhood, her intelligence, her quiet strength. Jane, I believe, has influenced many a heroine.

Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale: Set in the late 19th century, Blue Stockings is a play that tells the story of four women who attend Girton College, Cambridge: the first college in Britain to admit women. There's no doubt in my mind that Jane would have attended university if she'd had the chance to.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys: This modern classic is a prequel to Jane Eyre which tells the story of Bertha Mason: the madwoman in the attic.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I think Sarah Waters is a brilliant storyteller, and Fingersmith is one of the twistiest, turniest novels I've ever read. As shocking to read as Jane Eyre was upon its initial publication, it also includes a love story that crosses class boundaries and is a wonderful place to start if you've yet to read any Sarah Waters.

Jane, the Fox & Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault: This graphic novel tells the story of Hélène who's being bullied at school because of her weight. The only thing that makes her feel better is reading Jane Eyre. This is a beautiful graphic novel, and one that, sadly, I imagine a lot of girls can relate to. It's not the best graphic novel I've ever read, but it's still pretty darn good.

What did you talk about this week?