My Cousin Rachel

It's nice to know that there are authors like Daphne du Maurier out there who can always be counted upon to provide an enjoyable reading experience. If one has struggled through a couple of sub-par contemporary novels, one knows with du Maurier he can sink his teeth into something excellent, and My Cousin Rachel delivers big time.It is the story of a young man, Philip, 25, who has been brought up by his older, male, bachelor cousin, Ambrose. They are well-to-do and live on an estate in the Cornwall, England so beloved by Ms. du Maurier, and have a varied and busy life. Neither seems too particularly interested in women. As he gets older, Ambrose decides for health reasons that he must begin to winter in Italy, leaving Philip behind to take care of things.Ambrose, of course, writes to Philip, and eventually tells him he has met a woman--their cousin Rachel--with whom he has fallen in love with and whom he has married. As time goes by, however, the letters become less enthusiastic. She is spending too much. He is becoming ill. He no longer trusts her or the Italian friend who seems to be hanging around her all of the time. Philip decides that he must go to Italy, but by the time he gets there, his beloved cousin is dead and buried and Rachel is nowhere to be found. Philip returns to England, disconsolate, heartbroken and angry.Shortly thereafter he learns that Rachel is coming to pay a visit. And this is where the meat of the novel begins: although determined to get to the truth of the matter out of her, Philip instead becomes smitten.The reason the novel works so well--indeed, the reason all of du Maurier's novels work so well--is that the characters are perfectly etched. Philip is not unintelligent and he is not uneducated. But he is 25, and he has traveled practically nowhere. The story is written in the first person by him, and although he is clearly self-confident, the reader sees how easily he is manipulated by the beautiful Rachel. She has him, as a major character points out, wrapped around her finger.Rachel, of course, is etched through the eyes of Philip, and she is also a distinct, memorable character. Always dressed appropriately, always made up perfectly, she knows precisely how she must act with the various persons in the community in which Philip lives. They are enchanted by her, as is Philip, to whom she is alternately bewitching and standoffish.The suspense begins when Philip learns little things about Rachel’s actions that don’t seem to fit with her overall charm. She is spending too much. He discovers additional letters from Ambrose that never made it to him previously. He is beginning to feel ill. Philip does not want to believe the implications of these things and does his best to ignore them. And then the Italian friend comes to visit.Best not say more, except that the tension continues to build until the conclusion; a conclusion which, again typically of du Maurier, is unexpected. First-rate, page-turning fiction all the way.

Why This BookAfter reading Rebecca several years ago, I placed My Cousin Rachel, another of Daphne du Maurier's famed novels, on my To Be Read (TBR) shelf. Earlier this year, a Goodreads buddy, Michael, and I were chatting about various books when we decided to do a buddy read together, selecting this wonderful Gothic edition. We were both interested to see if it lived up to the hype and how it compared to the author's other words. We agreed on early March and got to it this week. I've only started doing buddy reads in the last few months, but they are quite fun... I recommend them.Approach & StyleI purchased the Kindle Reader version from Amazon to read on my iPad. It contains ~350 pages and took me four days to read. The novel is written in first person point of view and told from the perspective of Philip Ashley, a 24-year-old English man set in a somewhat unknown time, but likely the early/mid twentieth century given some of the details in the background setting. The language is intense and full of amazing imagery and astounding descriptions.Plot, Characters & SettingThe novel centers around the Ashley family. Philip's parents die when he is less than a year old, but his cousin Ambrose raises him in their England home. At some point years later, Ambrose unexpectedly marries a widow named Rachel who is half-Italian and grew up in Tuscany. It's an odd pairing, as she has a bit of a reputation for husband-hunting and spending lots of money. After ~2 years, Ambrose mysteriously dies and Rachel disappears. Philip is distraught, but searches for her in Italy. Rachel eventually shows up in England looking to meet her pseudo-stepson, and that's when the story really begins to get interesting. There's an air of darkness concerning Ambrose's death--was Rachel involved? She has a suitor of sorts who follows her from Tuscany--yet both claim there is nothing but friendship. Philip intends to crucify his cousin Rachel after reading a few letters from his late cousin, Ambrose; however, things take a surprising turn when more secrets are revealed and there's a bit of romance developing in the background. Add in a few traditional English families, an inheritance upon Philip's 25th birthday, and a possible proposal to/from a neighboring family... and you've got quite a Gothic story unleashing it's power on you.Key Thoughts1. du Maurier truly engages the reader with lyrical and ethereal descriptions of everything going on in the story. You will feel like you are sitting at a table in the house watching everything occur around you. The super-fine details are what challenge your intellect to decide what is real and what is not.2. As a plot, it's classic -- did she or didn't she kill him? But here's the interesting part... that question hardly ever comes up in the book. It's not a mystery in terms of researching the past to see if murder actually happened. It's entirely psychological in the relationship between Philip and Rachel... where you listen to the words or what isn't said, think about whether you trust either of them... and in the end, you just wish you could have spoken to Ambrose yourself to get the answer.3. I went back and forth multiple times deciding whether I liked Rachel and Philip as characters and as human beings. Humanity and kindness are huge themes in this novel. Attitude and disinterest are also keen to make themselves present within the relationships. Sometimes I wanted to throttle both, other times, the tenderness was admirable. The last few chapters truly push the envelope in terms of engaging more doubt before there is a final reveal.4. While reading the first ~75 pages, I was also editing my novel. I had on my 'writer glasses' and couldn't stop analyzing the word choice in du Maurier's initial chapters. It was disconnected and hard to attach myself, too. I also found a few words that were repeated a couple of times on the same page (a pet peeve for me in my own writing) and after the third or fourth, I slapped myself and realized it wasn't important. 99 amazing words on every page and 1 every so often that didn't work. That's way too high of a percentage to ever get stuck! Stick with it past that initial 15% mark and you're in for quite an intellectually stimulating ride.5. If you love Italy or the quintessential proper English culture and decor, you will enjoy this novel. The only thing that bugged me from time to time was not really knowing enough about Philip prior to meeting Rachel, so I could form a strong enough opinion on who he was as a person, i.e. before he became mesmerized by his cousin Rachel.6. My favorite part of the whole book... Philip ALWAYS refers to her as 'My cousin Rachel' until a certain event changes their lives... then she simply becomes 'Rachel.' The meaning of the novel is hidden in that ever-so-small alteration in their relationship and future.Summarydu Maurier is quite skilled at creating scenery, characters, and undetermined truth. We really never know who to believe, even in the end. But it works. Whereas Rebecca was a stronger plot, I think My Cousin Rachel pushes the envelope more in terms of who should we believe. Either case, I really enjoyed the read, especially discussing it with Michael, who is an author you might want to take a look at (new book coming out in April '18). I plan to review the author's bibliography this summer to see if there's another potential novel of hers I'd like to read. Overall, I'd give this 4+ stars as I really enjoyed it, but there was some repetition and missing pieces so I couldn't quite knock it up to a 5-star rating.

What a magnificent writer, so skillfully written that you felt you were in every page soaking up the details & becoming part of the story.Was he going crazy with lust? The hero must have questioned himself many times, he must have known the truth but refused to give in to it.I read this book in one day, hours, because I needed to know. Now I want more!

Warning: this is the abridged version! Nowhere does it tell you that but this is an oversized, large print version of the book and only about 100 pages. It's still a very good story. I haven't read the original version, so I can't compare it, but since this one is so short, it's very predictable. It's still well written and is a complete story, but I'm guessing you miss a lot of the flavor of the original novel. I don't know why Amazon doesn't mention this is heavily abridged, but it is.As for the story itself, it's excellent. It reminds me of a character reversal with Rebecca. Instead of Mrs. De Winter being the naive female coming into an established household, the story is told from the man's point of view (I forget his name) while his cousin Rachel infiltrates his house. Rachel is very much like Rebecca while the man of the house is like Mrs. De Winter. It's a great book but I STRONGLY recommend getting the original and not this abridged version.

I was not sure I would like this. But I loved this book and the style was so fun. Highly recommend.

Pour lire

After watching Rebecca on Netflix, I wanted to read other books by the same author. Such a great read that had me guessing the whole way through.

This one of is one of du Maurier's best novels. I know Rebecca is considered by many to be her magnum opus but My Cousin Rachel is a happier, more enchanting twist on the charismatic-but-suspicious femme fatale. The writing, as with all of her works, is breathtaking. She has an otherworldly way with words and is a fantastic storyteller. If you were intrigued by Rebecca de Winter you will be totally charmed by Rachel Ashley. Until I read The Ghost Bride this was probably my favourite book - and in terms of writing alone, it still is. I remember when I first read it (from my local library) and couldn't put it down. It came in great condition from Amazon.

Non so perché ma non sono nemmeno riuscita a finire di leggere questo libro. La trama scorre davvero molto lentamente e la scrittura risulta a volte fin troppo macchinosa.

Uma leitura incrível, que te prende do inicio ao fim. A autora faz com que o leitor reveja sua opinião dos personagens principais o tempo todo e o desfecho da história irá surpreender. Vale a pena a leitura.