Mary Yellan moves with her aunt and her husband at Jamaica Inn, a dreadful place where horrible things happen. No one dares to stop by or even talk about it. Evil lives there. The young womam arrives at the inn, ignorant and naive. Du Maurier sets the mood of the story right away. Dark, gloomy, unwelcoming. At the inn she is received by a horrible bad mannered man, her uncle and a fearful woman. Her aunt has changed a lot. She has aged and is not the shadow of her former lively self. Slowly the author uncovers bits and pieces about the characters's personalities and their secrets. Mary regrets her decision to go live with her aunt. Now she wants to leave and take the old lady with her. However this might prove impossible after she witnesses some frightening events.
Opinion: not as good as Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel but I liked it a lot. Although the story is gripping I found it hard to read more than 2 or 3 chapters a day. Most of the story revolves around the relationship between the protagonist and her horrid uncle as she comes to know about what he does for a living. However there are few scenes between them, including a couple which are crucial. I think I liked this as it kept the mystery of the uncle alive throughout the novel. Loved the atmosphere and the setting. The moors the marsh and the isolation of the Inn. There was another creepy character who caught my attention and who was at heart of the mystery of the novel. During Maurier kept me wandering about their role and motivations until the end.
My edition is another hardback published by Virago in its Virago Modern Classics collection. It has 302 pages and includes an introduction y Sarah Dunant which I enjoyed reading.
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