i have to admit the truth. i spend most of my time laying on the couch eating chocolate chips. not even reading books and eating chocolate chips. just staring into space and eating chocolate chips. but, for those of you whose life is not as exhausting as mine, here is our book trail discussion for this month from our delightful hostess, rebecca.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier:  A story set in England about a man (Ambrose Ashley), his younger cousin (Philip Ashley) whom the man raised, and the woman (Rachel) the man marries.

Some of the characters and story lines I thought were interesting:

Ambrose - what a cool cousin!  He took Philip in when Philip’s parents died and treated him as if he were his own son.  He taught him everything he knew and even did away with Philip’s nanny because he thought she was too harsh with Philip.  Downsides to Ambrose are that he didn’t know much about the outside world.  He lived in his home with only male servants and only Philip.  Maybe if he had known more of the ways of women, he wouldn’t have fallen into the ‘trap’ set by Rachel.  I wonder why Ambrose didn’t mail out the letters himself to Philip warning him of what he thought Rachel was trying to do to him.  I know he was sick, but if he was that worried, surely he could have found some way to get the mail to his cousin.

Philip - In the beginning of the story, he seems very naive to the things of the world.  While he had spent time at college, he still didn’t seem to understand the workings of human nature.  He just couldn’t see that Louise liked him or that his godfather was pushing a relationship with Louise upon him.  It took Rachel pointing these things out to him for him to realize what would have been plain and clear to most other men.  When Philip first learns of Ambrose’s death, he wants to destroy Rachel.  How quickly - I think it took a night? - his perspective changes when he finally meets Rachel.  Throughout the book, I find myself thinking right along with Philip, though.  At times I hated her, at times I loved her.  Like most men, he didn’t really know how to convey his feelings to Rachel and took answers she gave him as more than they were.  Could you tell from their conversation the night of his birthday that he was proposing?  How would you like a proposal like that?:

  “I told you once,” I said, “that I had all the warmth and the comfort that I needed within four walls.  Have you forgotten?
“No,” she said, “I have not forgotten.”
“I spoke in error,”  I said.  “I know now what I lack.”
She touched my head, and the tip of my ear, and the end of my chin.
“Do you?”  she said.  “Are you so very sure?”
“More sure,” I answered, “than of anything on the earth.”

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t see a proposal there.  I saw hintings, but you really can’t and shouldn’t hint at a proposal.

Rachel - Along with Philip, at first I hate Rachel and can’t believe someone would try to poison the person they are married to.  However, when she comes to stay at the house, along with Philip, I am intrigued by her.  I am in awe with how easily she seems to fit in somewhere she has never been.  She is able to charm anyone who is unsuspecting.  It’s interesting that she was never able to charm Louise though.  Louise always just puts up with Rachel being there as it seems to make Philip happy.  She has a way about her.  Nowadays, Rachel would be called a very good flirt!

Louise - She was born in such a different era than we live in nowadays.  She should have just told Philip from the beginning that she liked him.  She is a great friend, though, and doesn’t desert Philip even though Philip doesn’t treat her very well.  Louise is smart, probably too smart.  It seems she knew all along that Rachel only liked Philip for his money.  But is she correct?  What of Rinaldi’s last letter to Philip where he tells her that if she can’t let go of Philip when she returns to Italy to just bring him with her.  Does Rachel hold true feelings for Philip?

Nick Kendall - Another of those trying to look out for Philip.  He also should’ve been looking out for Ambrose, but I guess being a country away made that impossible.

Rinaldi - I could just see the long, thin fingers.  I’m not sure if it said it or not, but to me he even had a long, pointy nose.  I see him as an evil man, dressed in black, playing the part of marionette master.  Maybe it was Rachel who played him though.  That to me is the magic of du Maurier’s work…I never know who is really in control or in charge of a situation.

I thought this book was very well written.  It was definitely a page turner.  Did Rachel try to poison Ambrose, or did he really just die from a brain tumor?  Did she really try to poison Philip, or did he just have meningitis and she tried to nurse them both back to health?  The ending is so ambiguous, at least to me, and I find myself thinking of it long after I finish the book trying to figure out what Rachel’s true motives were.

Did you enjoy the story?  What more do you have to say about our characters…there is so much more than what I said.