Jamaica Inn

Well, Jamaica Inn most certainly is no Rebecca...It still is a highly readable, sinister and dark narrative with the atmospheric trademark "du Maurier"-mood, which, of course, even though it is set in Cornwall, is a far cry from the picturesque descriptions you'll find in a Pilcher novel. In du Maurier's book, Cornwall is a dangerous, remote, threatening place of moors and winds. It is the setting of the rundown Jamaica Inn, a pub lorded over by protagonist Mary Yellan's vicious uncle-by-marriage and frequented by a pack of outlaws. That being said, Mary spends most of her time defending her ethics and trying to alert the law to the shenanigans, that her uncle presides over. To complicate matters, she feels attracted to her uncle's younger brother, believes she has to save her aunt and confides in a local priest. Even if all of this sounds exciting, the plot is not so very thrilling and Mary's character suffers from an antiquated representation of the female role. Jane Eyre is a lot more feisty. Instead, the novel is rather carried by its constant references and usage of gothic tropes - and these are excellently employed within the narrative. Especially if you try to read the novel from a postcolonial angle and eliminate the "inn" from the title...