Jamaica Inn

Years ago (okay it was decades ago, don't remind me) an offhand remark by a teacher made me realize authors go in and out of fashion. It was an idea that disturbed me then and still disturbs me. What? Even authors are subject to the ever-changing moods of the times? Is nothing sacred? I guess not because over the years I've noticed this to be true. Which brings us to Daphne duMaurier. She is an author who was in (in a big way), then out, and whose star is rising again, I think. And I'm happy about this because duMaurier writes old-fashioned sorts of tales of love and suspense that are hard to put down. She deserves to be read. Granted she may not write the most beautiful prose you've ever read but she will keep you up passed your bedtime.

I'm slowly making my way through duMaurier's novels. Last week I finished reading Jamaica Inn: Mary Yellan's mother's dying wish was for her daughter to go live with her Aunt Patience after her death. Little did Mary's mother know that Aunt Patience was now married to Joss Merlyn, an outlaw who ran the forbidding Jamaica Inn on a lonely stretch of the Cornish coast. Soon after arriving Mary realized mysterious things happened under cover of darkness at Jamaica Inn. Things she was warned to ignore, but couldn't. Toss in a band of criminals, an albino vicar and a handsome stranger Mary is not sure she can trust and you have the page-turner that is Jamaica Inn.

Incidentally if you are interested in reading a Daphne duMaurier novel and aren't sure where to start, I'd recommend her best known novel, and the one I read first, Rebecca.

First line of Jamaica Inn by Daphne duMaurier: It was a cold grey day in late November.