Philip was in a rage and plotting ways to revenge Ashley’s dead. Then, one week after his return, his godfather told him that Rachel is in England and wish to meet Philip to return all Ashley’s belonging. He had no doubt that Ashley died because of her despite the doctors’ diagnosis: brain tumour. Ambrose had died and Rachel, because of grief, had packed everything and left the country.Ĭoming back to England, Philip swore that he would find Rachel and destroy her. But the journey took him three weeks, and by the time Philip arrived at Rachel’s villa, it was empty. The last letter (the quote above) sent Philip to Italy. Philip grew worried some of the letters Ashley wrote after the marriage said that he had been ill, miserable and (this confused Philip) scared of Rachel. However, months gone by and Ashley’s letters became scarce. They got married shortly after they met and Ashley wrote to Philip that Rachel and he would go back to Cornwall soon. He enjoyed talking to her and found that they shared common interest: gardening. Ashley, who disliked the company of women, found Rachel different from any women he had known, Rachel’s presence never annoyed Ashley. Rachel’s father married an Italian woman, and since the marriage, they had been lived abroad. In Florence, Ashley wrote to Philip that he met their relative, their cousin Rachel. One day because of his illness, Ashley decided to travel to Italy to spend the summer there. The only female companion Philip has is his godfather’s daughter, Louise, who he grew up with.

Their house in Cornwall doesn’t have any females in the household.

He brought up Philip to be his successor and his heir, and Philip grew up wanting to always be like Ambrose. Ashley Ambrose is a rich man that owns many lands, but he doesn’t believe in marriage and thinks that women are just a nuisance. He was adopted by his cousin Ashley Ambrose when he was three years old. The narrator, Philip Ambrose, is a young man about to turn 25 years old. The book reminds me a lot of Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’. So if you’re the kind of person that has to be satisfied with a proper ending and hate open-ending stories, you might not like it. ‘My Cousin Rachel’ is the kind of story that will make the reader guesses until the very end.

She could take her readers into her own fictional worlds, in such effective dialogues and scenes that the stories look deceivingly simple.

It’s not just the suspense and the twisted ending, but also about how each story crafted in such details. Next, I read ‘The Birds’ and I knew that I would always love whatever this author wrote. The first short story of Daphne du Maurier that I read was ‘Don’t Look Now’ which hooked me right away. She has done for me at last, Rachel my torment.

My cousin rachel du maurier