As a result, the young heir prepares to confront his protector's widow, nevertheless, utterly unprepared for the sophisticated and elegantly enigmatic woman who sweeps into his life and the family's manor. In the end, I still like Jamaica Inn better, mostly for Mary Yellan but also for its greater plottiness (is that a word?) Ambrose goes away to Italy, marries there, and a few years later sends a letter to Philip intimating that he is in danger, and asking Philip to come to Italy straight away. Was Rachel innocent or guilty? Concerned, Philip travels to Italy, only to be informed Ambrose has died and Rachel has left. All entries copyright Rohan Maitzen. I’ve included a trailer from the film My Cousin Rachel, with Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Plot summary. After the young boy Philip is orphaned, he is adopted by his older cousin Ambrose, who raises him as a son on his large estate in Cornwall. Change ). After an idyllic outset, the situation deteriorates. My mother, Cornelia Brinkman, translated My Cousin Rachel into Dutch in 1952. Well, in Rebecca, you know absolutely, positively that Rebecca was evil was the villain of the piece. For those of you know Dutch, here’s a website about her: http://www.corneliabrinkman.nl Some time later, Rachel announces her coming. | No, there is no doubt. One rather feels she faces sex with her young lover with a sigh not of anticipation and arousal, but forbearance and resignation. If you use material from this blog, please give proper credit to the author. Despite societal beliefs of the necessity of motherhood, Philip grows up with a nearly complete absence of women in the household, before Ambrose leaves the estate for the sunnier climate of Florence. “My Cousin Rachel is more understated than Jamaica Inn but, in its own way, it is just as perfect.” Well, if you say it is “perfect,” then I have only one option: read the book. The women of the world are the saner sex. Plot Keywords I will be reading more by Daphne du Maurier in the future, having also read The Birds and Other Stories . Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. A young Englishman plots revenge against his late cousin's mysterious, beautiful wife, believing her responsible for his death. Say Your Prayers: Blessed are the filmmakers…, Investigating Enola Holmes: The Case Of The Overthinking Critic, The Devil All The Time: the devil is in the detail, Bill & Ted 3: no Eddie Van Halen but we do get Dave Grohl, She Dies Tomorrow: the meaning of life, and death. Tumors, paranoia, fantasies all fed the foolish minds they inhabited with doubt. That last line gave me such a chill. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! This is my favorite of the du Maurier novels I’ve read. Philip receives a worrying letter suggesting Ambrose is in mortal danger, blaming his wife and her 'diabolic' lawyer friend Rainaldi. Instead he killed her. Willing to sort out the truth, Philip goes to Ambrose's place but he does not find Rachel, who has gone away. On this page, you’ll find her translations: http://corneliabrinkman.nl/Vertalingen.htm It wasn’t until he had his hands around Rachel’s throat, though, that I really saw how du Maurier had suckered me into complacency with the familiar trope of the femme fatale.