Who does Gothic better than du Maurier??? No one!

I picked this book up as a part of the Winter Classics Challenge (which, by the way, I'm failing at miserably!!) My Cousin Rachel is by Daphne du Maurier (288 pgs) and was written in 1951. There is something about the way du Maurier writes that makes it hard to put one of her books down. And this is no exception. From the opening sentence, I was utterly and completely enthralled!!


The story is told by Philip Ashley, a young orphan who was taken in to raise by his cousin Ambrose, a young man not much more than a boy himself. And it was just the two of them for many years. No women around at all....not even on the staff. There was never a need, when the men could get along so well without them! When Ambrose's health starts to falter a bit, he is pushed to spend the cold, damp winters in a warmer climate. Imagine Philip's surprise when, one winter, Ambrose writes that he has married a woman from Florence! Her name was Rachel, a widow that was struggling to survive the debt her first husband had left. Not only was Philip surprised, he was jealous. Ambrose had always been his and his alone. He never had to share him with anyone.


When Ambrose decides to stay in Florence to help settle some estate problems for Rachel, Philip is upset. And when Ambrose's correspondence starts falling behind, he even starts to get worried. About this time a letter arrives for Philip that is shaky and completely unlike Ambrose. Philip quickly decides to make the trip to Florence. Ambrose complains of being sick and is having doubts about Rachel, his torment. But when Philip arrives at the villa in Italy, Ambrose has already passed away, and Rachel has left the country. With revenge on his mind, Philip goes back to England to find he will inherit the entire Ashley estate on his twenty-fifth birthday, which is only 6 months away. No provisions at all have been made for Rachel, Ambrose's widow. This is just how Philip would have it, until the day that his cousin, Rachel arrives in England. She is not at all the type of woman he expected.


The thing about this book is that once you read it, you will have more questions than when you started!! Is Rachel the sweet, innocent angel she seems to be? Flirty, but naive? Or is she a calculating, evil temptress, who only uses men for her personal gain? And what about Philip? Is he driven mad by jealousy and obsession? Or is there something else at work? The ending is anything but straightforward, and the reader is left to his own to answer these questions. The mystery surrounding Rachel unravels slowly, but in such a way as to keep you on the edge of your seat. I actually liked this book far more than I did Rebecca, du Maurier's more popular work. Excellent, Gothic read for a stormy and dark night!! 4.5/5

Classic Tale by a lesser known Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte was first published in 1848. Let me just preface my review by saying, "Thank GOD, I didn't live back then!" The story is told by Gilbert Markham through a series of letters to his friend Halford and by journal entries of the mysterious and devout Mrs. Helen Graham. A recent widow, Mrs. Graham and her young son are the new tenants of Wildfell Hall, a dilapidated estate owned by Frederick Laurence. The air of mystery that surrounds Mrs. Graham is certainly fodder for the townsfolk. She is quiet, reserved and not very inviting to most of her neighbors. Wildfell Hall only has a few rooms that are in livable condition. And she has a strange attachment to her son, Arthur. She is never separated from him.

As the days go by, Gilbert finds that he is undeniably attracted to Mrs. Graham. But he is very disheartened to find that rumors are now being circulated around town about Mrs. Graham and Frederick, a man that Gilbert has always considered a friend. It is also very clear to him that Helen is shutting him down at ever effort to get to know her, especially regarding her past.

Eventually, Helen is unable to deny her feelings for Gilbert and gives him her diary. This action is her one chance for him to understand who she really is and dispel the rumors that the townsfolk have come to believe. The diary is Helen's account of her life before she moved into the rooms at Wildfell Hall, but most specifically, it is about her marriage to Arthur Huntingdon, a very charming man that had few, if any, scruples.

At first I had a hard time getting into this book. I found the characters all rather unlikable and rather annoying. The townsfolk were always in everyone's business. Gilbert was rather insensitive and kind of bully, when you come right down to it. And Helen spent most of the book playing a martyr by saying it was "God's Will". I do realize that it was different times, and a woman's rights were very few. This is the main reason I overlooked my annoyance and continued reading. In the end, I found that I really enjoyed the story. Bronte wrote this book at a time when women were less than citizens and brought forth a whole host of probably very controversial topics for that time: alcoholism, infidelity, and women's rights to name just a few. I think Anne Bronte was very much ahead of her time. 4/5