Review: My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

The orphaned Philip Ashley is brought up by his cousin, Ambrose, on his Cornish estate. The two form a strong bond, and when Ambrose’ health forces him to spend his winters in Europe, leaving Philip in charge of the estate, they both feel the separation sorely.

One winter, Ambrose fails to return home from his trip to Italy, instead informing his heir that he has met and married Rachel, a distant relation of theirs. Strange and troubling letters from Ambrose soon begin to arrive, and Philip’s suspicions are aroused — he makes the journey to Italy, only to find that he is too late: Ambrose has died suddenly, and cousin Rachel has mysteriously disappeared. Devastated by his loss, Philip vows revenge on the elusive Rachel, confident that she has had something to do with his guardian’s sudden death. But when Rachel shows up unexpectedly in England, Philip’s resolve begins to waver, and he finds himself slowly captivated by the woman — just as Ambrose once was.

My Cousin Rachel is a dark and chilling gothic novel, reminiscent of the author’s more famous work Rebecca, and I enjoyed it just as much.

The writing style is dark and atmospheric and dramatic, and envelops the reader in the story and the setting, with the perfect tone and immersive descriptions.

Like Rebecca, this book has several haunting and highly quotable passages, which really set off a book of this nature. Then there is the ever present undercurrent of mystery… is Rachel guilty, or isn’t she? I’ll keep my opinion to myself, and let you form your own.

Du Maurier has a knack for creating flawed and irritating narrators and then drawing you into their world — emotions, concerns, surroundings and all. Like Philip, I found my suspicions of Rachel being dampened and lulled by her charming persona, amused by their banter and charmed by her wit. Rachel’s manipulation is woven through the pages, but she puts the reader at ease just as she does Philip; she works her magic on us as well as on the naive boy (that said, I did find it a little frustrating, bordering on unbelievable at times, how gullible and easily swayed Philip was — but then, he is a man).

The subtle humour present throughout the book surprised me. The narrator’s total oblivion to what was going on sometimes was also amusing to witness.

However, there is a sinister undercurrent to the whole story, despite the humour and the apparently ordinary nature of the events; one feels a subtle unease the whole way through, right up until the dramatic end.

The book did have some misogynistic undertones and comments throughout, but to me this seemed to be more due to the nature and viewpoint of the narrator and those surrounding him than from the author’s opinion; indeed, the comments often seemed to mock the narrator rather than to degrade the women.

The cynical side of me also enjoyed the fact that, for once, the tables were turned against the man in this work; contrary to most books, in this one it is the man who is being deluded, who is besotted in love and making a fool of himself — and I, for one, thing it’s a nice change from the regular run of the plot in books such as these.

The book overall has dark themes and tone, and includes things such as murder and mentions of miscarriage and domestic violence, as well as depiction of emotional manipulation that may be triggering to some. There are also some mildly frightening scenes, including those of death and violence.

The text contains several occasions of mild bad language, including words such as “damn” and “hell” and several instances of taking the Lord’s name in vain, as well one or two instances where offensive terms are used to refer to certain groups of people.

Sexual activity is also implied, though nothing explicit is really shown or described, and most innocent readers would probably miss it completely.

The content and overall dark tone of the book would probably make it appropriate for readers in their mid-teens and later; this age bracket would probably also appreciate the slow-moving story and the subject content better than younger readers, in most cases.

This is very much a character-driven story, with no really likeable characters, and quite slow-moving at times, so if these elements are not to your taste, you may not enjoy the story.

Though gothic books aren’t really my favourite genre, I do enjoy a good dark, chilling read now and again when I am in the mood for it, and My Cousin Rachel scratched the itch perfectly. I would have no issues recommending it to fans of the genre, and those who enjoy du Maurier’s other works.