Read it Before You See it: My Cousin Rachel

Posted on 27 July, 2017

Roger Michell’s visually gorgeous adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 novel, My Cousin Rachel, currently in cinemas, looks set to be a stunning, visceral thriller.

Starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin, with an excellent supporting cast, and top screenwriters, it also has all the makings of that rare thing: a first-class adaptation of a book. But I am a firm believer in the adage that you should read the book before you see the film. With this in mind, I have written you a little summary of why you should read Daphne du Maurier’s chilling period thriller.

Du Maurier is perhaps most famous for her 1938 novel Rebecca, largely due to the noir-style adaptation directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1940. However, Rebecca is exceptional among du Maurier’s work, as the majority of novels are period dramas, like Frenchman’s Creek, Jamaica Inn, and of course, My Cousin Rachel, which fully exhibits her powers of ominous, evocative writing.

The novel is a Victorian mystery-drama like the works of Wilkie Collins, or even Conan-Doyle, with the main character, Philip trying to determine if the woman he comes to love is as good as she outwardly seems, or a secretly conniving villain.

The novel begins with the early years of Philip’s life as an orphan, living in the care of his cousin Ambrose Ashley. It focuses on the strength of the affectionate relationship which exists between these two, and the growing influence that Ambrose’s declining health has on their lives. While Ambrose is away in Italy for a long English winter, for the sake of his health, he meets and marries the beautiful widow Rachel, with whom he decides to live in Italy, leaving Philip, now a young man, in Cornwall.

Ambrose continues to write Philip letters from Italy, but they become gradually stranger as time passes, and when he dies of what appears to be a brain tumour, suspicions are aroused about Rachel’s role in his death. A short time later, Rachel herself comes to Cornwall, and Philip, who initially intended to confront her, finds himself becoming more and more fascinated with her.

Like du Maurier’s other novels, there is a strong element of mystery in the story, as Philip tries to ascertain whether or not he can really trust Rachel, and if she is, in fact, responsible for the death of Ambrose. However, more than this, the novel is also a complex assessment of the fragility of a woman’s reputation. Outwardly beautiful and respectable, but a widow twice over, Rachel is suspect in the eyes of Philip and the rest of the small Cornwall community, because she beautiful, engaging, and independent, qualities which are threatening in a woman in this social climate.

As a central female character, Rachel plays an important role in dissecting the social conventions which govern expectations of women, both at the time the novel was written, in the 1950s and when it is set, in the Victorian period. Part of the power of du Maurier’s writing is its universality, as the themes and issues it deals with are still very much relevant today, when we are still trying to establish a balance between acceptance of individuality, and conformity to the key tenets of social life.

My Cousin Rachel is a beautiful, chilling, and poignant read, which will stay with you long after you have closed its pages, and warrants re-reading despite its age and relative obscurity. This is a book you should definitely pick up before you see the film, and if you weren’t planning on seeing the new movie, you can read the book anyway!

Images: facebook.com/mycousinrachelmovie