My Cousin Rachel is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1951. Like the earlier Rebecca, it is a mystery-romance, largely set on a large estate in Cornwall. The basis of the novel is the tension set up in its young protagonist when Philip falls in love with his cousin, while uncovering, and trying to deny, evidence that she is pretending to care for him while she has only her own interests at heart. Philip Ashley, the protagonist, has been brought up by his cousin Ambrose, to whom he is devoted, on Ambrose's Cornish estate. While travelling in Italy for his health,... Ambrose falls in love with and marries Rachel, a distant cousin and penniless widow of an Italian count. Just months after their marriage, Ambrose falls ill and dies, leaving Philip to inherit the estate. Rachel returns to England, and Philip is subjected to contradictory forces: he falls in love with her, but at the same time evidence grows that Rachel might be funneling money to Italy and that Ambrose died under suspicious circumstances.
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| Author: | Daphne du Maurier |
| Genre: | Romance novel, Novel, Mystery |
| Year published: | 1951 |
| Number of editions: | 8 |