a storyteller whose sole aim is to bewitch and beguile. Could this exquisite woman, who seems to genuinely share Philip's grief at Ambrose's death, really be as cruel as Philip imagined? Or is she the kind, passionate woman with whom Ambrose fell in love? Philip struggles to understand Rachel's intentions, knowing Ambrose's estate, his future, and his sanity, hang in the balance.Īn atmospheric mystery full of doubt and paranoia, My Cousin Rachel is a suspenseful gothic treat for long-time fans and new readers of Daphne du Maurier. Now Rachel has arrived at Philip's newly inherited estate.

But the final, brief letters Ambrose wrote hint that his love had turned to paranoia and fear. While in Italy, Ambrose fell in love with Rachel, a beautiful English and Italian woman. Philip, the heir to Ambrose's beautiful English estate, is crushed that the man he loved died far from home. Philip Ashley's older cousin Ambrose, who raised the orphaned Philip as his own son, has died in Rome. 'From the first page.the reader is back in the moody, brooding atmosphere of Rebecca.'- The New York Timesįrom Daphne du Maurier, the legendary author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, comes a gothic classic set in beautiful, mysterious, and eerie Cornwall. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING RACHEL WEISZ AND SAM CLAFLIN! Rachel is a distant cousin of Ambrose and is half Cornish and half italian – the impoverished widow of the Count Sangalletti”įlorence is as mysterious as the lady herself – shrouded in veils and mist, the houses grand and elusive.About the Book From the bestselling author of 'Rebecca,' another classic set in beautiful and mysterious Cornwall. Philip Ashley, left behind, learns of events in Italy only intermittently by letter… “There, Ambrose travels in search of plants for his garden, and an improvement in his health. There/ two men, served entirely by male staff, lead an isolated, philistine, inward-looking existence.”Ĭould this be that house? This is the mansion which inspired the story and its setting – /antony Florence

We discover a house from which women have been banished. And this Cornish estate, unnamed in the novel, has had all fictional allure ruthlessly scrapped away. “The location of My Cousin Rachel is familiar du Maurier territory at du Maurier’s own home, Menabilly (fictionalised in other novels, most notably in rebecca.)įrom the first, there is a sense of displacement, which gives it a curious, dreamlike air of timelessness.

My cousin rachel novel