Literary Pilgrimage to Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn

Hi readers of this blog! Today, as promised, I am reverting to the normal-ish posts I am used to and comfortable with- just stuff I am up to, and how it has inspired me with my reading and writing.

As you may know, I journey up to the lands of North Cornwall extremely often, and it was only this year that I took up one of Daphne du Maurier's books, Jamaica Inn. Her books are extremely famous in and around Cornwall, and in fact, when I was travelling up to Cornwall by train from London Paddington about a month ago and had my paperback copy of Jamaica Inn with me about five different people commented on how great that book is, and simultaneously, how appalling the BBC adaptation is.

Well, I haven't watched the BBC adaptation myself, but what I can vouch for is that Jamaica Inn is indeed a fantastic book, filled to the brim with action and romance and mystery. Okay, perhaps less of the romance. I can safely say that I have never read a book like Jamaica Inn before, because it kept me gripped throughout, and waiting at the very edge of my seat for what would happen next. It is thoroughly emotional yet at the same time horrific in its descriptions of the horrific crimes that have taken place in Cornish history.

After reading Jamaica Inn, I realised that I wanted desperately to find out more about Daphne du Maurier and the world she created in her books. Having visited North Cornwall annually since I was about three and much more often in recent years, I feel the same connection as she did to the area and the mystery and beauty it embodies. Therefore, in October half term my family and I visited Jamaica Inn in Bodmin, North Cornwall, to discover what it was that inspired Daphne du Maurier to write such an action-packed, beautifully written novel set in one of England's most temperamental environments. 

I took some pictures of my time in Bodmin, check them out below :)

Until next time :)