Book Review: My Cousin Rachel

 

“How many people were these, I wondered, who liked me and served me for myself alone?”

My Cousin Rachel by, Daphne du Maurier is narrated by the sullen main character Philip, a twenty-something Cornish gentlemen. After the unexpected death of his cousin Ambrose, only two years after Ambrose’s marriage to a woman named Rachel, Philip falls for Rachel’s charms. However, something is a bit “off” with Ambrose’s death. 

Philip, who was raised by Ambrose, is introverted and naive. He has little understanding of women, as he’s lived a secluded life, surrounded mainly by masculine company. Due to his lack of experience with women, he is even more susceptible to Rachel. His initial suspicion of her quickly evaporates as he spends more time with her - to Philip, Rachel is near perfection. 

“But a lonely man is an unnatural man, and soon comes to perplexity. From perplexity to fantasy. From sanity to madness.” 

Philip is quirky and set in his ways, even though he is young and his oddities actually tend to hinder his judgment. His own denial plays a significant role in his own confusion. This secluded life he’s led with Ambrose seems to make him a prime candidate for being captivated by Rachel. Philip also bears a strong resemblance to Ambrose, and if it wasn’t for the age difference, it is implied that the two could be twins. 

“I have wondered … whether his spirit left his body and came home here to mine, taking possession, so that he lived again in me … All I know is that my likeness to him, of which I was so proud, proved my undoing.”

It’s as if Philip is destined to experienced certain events because of his uncanny similarity to Ambrose, in both appearance and temperament. While reading, I felt that Ambrose hadn’t really passed, there was something of his essence lingering throughout the novel. This also brings to mind an interesting question about fate: our physical features and even dispositions are genetic. How much control do we really have, when we are contending against our DNA? Philip, though he may be aware of what is happening to an extent, seems powerless to take control. 

In true du Maurier fashion, Rachel is the character in the novel that is illusive and vague. Only but so much is revealed about her throughout the entirely of the novel.

“Did she shut the past behind her like a door and never think of it again? Or was she beset with memories from day to day?” 

As the reader, I always felt a twinge of unease around Rachel, and she is written in such a way that it’s easy to see how Philip’s common sense flew out of the window. I felt myself being manipulated along with Philip. 

There is also an interesting focus on Rachel’s hands; Philip is drawn to them and thinks they are beautiful. He mentions her hands countless times throughout the narrative. 

“I might have said the same about her hands. I liked them too.”

I’ve noticed that this is a characteristic in du Maurier’s writing - she will hone in on one very specific physical feature in a particular character and you always have to ask yourself, “Why?” There is always a reason for everything du Maurier sprinkles into her novels. 

“Truth” is a theme that is woven throughout the narrative. There are many charades being played, often as  a means for characters to preserve their own comfort or the comfort of others. 

“… the truth is something intangible, unseen, which sometimes we stumble upon and did not recognise, but was found, and held, and understood only by old people near their death, or sometimes the very pure, the very young.”

In My Cousin Rachel, the truth is hidden in plain sight, it’s just a matter of Philip wanting to see it, and if the reader can piece together the breadcrumbs. 

My Cousin Rachel is my third Daphne du Maurier novel; I’ve already read Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. I really enjoyed it and when I would have to set it aside, I was eager to pick it up again. As with all of her novels, it’s well written and evocative. For example:

“The wind of the day before had blown itself up-country, taking the rain with it, and at noon the sun had broken through and the sky was clear. There was a salty brightness in the air, lending a zest to walking, and you could hear the running swell of the sea as it broke upon the rocks fringing the bay. We had these days often in the fall of the year. Belonging to no season they had a freshness all their own, yet with a hint of cooler hours to come and tasting still the aftermath of summer.”

My Cousin Rachel kept me guessing and doubting. It’s moody, a bit dark and vague, though not as dark and gothic as Jamaica Inn (Jamaica Inn is still my favorite thus far…). As is usual with du Maurier’s main characters and narrators, Philip is flawed and frustrating but still endearing. The ending of this novel is also cryptic and open for interpretation, which I also like - when I read the last page, I actually had to flip all the way back to the beginning and reread some passages. It’s always a bit tricky to review her novels because it’s easy to give things away - tiny details turn out to be significant. 

Rating: 4/5

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