When Mary's mother dies, she goes to live with her aunt and uncle who run the Jamaica Inn.  It lies in a remote and bleak corner of England. On her journey there she is warned to keep away. But why?

Transcript

Mary narrator
My name is Mary, Mary Yellan. I'm 23 years old. I'm not usually very brave, but I feel brave today. Here I am… on this long journey to Cornwall… on my own. I've left the farm where I've lived all my life. I wanted to stay there, but last week I made a promise to my dear Mother…

Mother
[coughing/weak voice] Mary, my child… listen… I won't be in this world much longer.

Mary
Don't say that, Mother.

Mother
It's true, Mary. But, before I go, I have only one wish…

Mary
Yes, Mother dear?

Mother
When I die, promise me you will go and live with my sister, Patience.

Mary
But why can't I stay here on the farm, here in Helford?

Mother
You can't stay here alone.

Mary
But I haven't seen Patience since I was a child!

Mother
I know, but soon she will be the only family you have. [coughing] I have written to her. She has agreed that you can go and live with her and your uncle Joshua. They live on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Here, take her letter.

Mary
Bodmin Moor! But that's so far away!

Mary narrator
Mother died last Tuesday. The funeral was yesterday. We buried her next to Papa. Now, I'm on my way to my aunt's house.  I've got the letter here…

[reading] Joss and I now live in Jamaica Inn, where he is landlord. It's on the road between Bodmin and Launceston…

This journey is so long! We have been travelling for hours. What a wild and lonely county Cornwall is. My only consolation is that I will see my aunt again after so many years. Oh how pretty she was with her golden hair and blue eyes! Always laughing, enjoying ourselves…

But I never visited her and I never met her husband either. … Ah, at last, I can see houses and people – this must be Bodmin town.

There is just me and one other traveller left. It's so cold and grey outside… The rain is lashing against the window. I wish it would stop! All I can see is mile upon mile of empty moorland. No trees… no houses… I wonder how many more hours we have to travel?

Mary
Excuse me, sir – is it much further?

Man
Where are you going?

Mary
Jamaica Inn… Do you know it?

Man
Maybe I do and maybe I don't… and why are you going there?

Mary
I'm going to live there… with my aunt and uncle.

Man
That will be Joss Merlyn... People say that queer things go on at Jamaica Inn.

Mary
What do you mean – queer?

Man
It's just what they say. But respectable people don't go there any more. It's a lonely place.

Man
If I were you, Miss,  I would go on to Launceston tonight and go back to Bodmin tomorrow.

Mary
But I can't. My aunt and uncle are waiting for me.

Man
Jamaica Inn is no place for a young woman.

Mary
I have nowhere else to go…

Mary narrator
What can he mean by 'queer things'? Why is he looking at me in that curious way?

Driver
Whoa boy…! Slow now.

Mary
Why have we stopped here – it's the middle of nowhere?

Driver
Jamaica Inn! There you go Miss.

Mary
But there's nothing here! Oh – what's that? There up on the moor - a dark building with tall chimneys. I can see a path to the door. There's a sign twisting in the wind. It says 'Jamaica Inn'.

Mary narrator
Suddenly I feel frightened. I want to climb back in the coach.

Too late – it's already gone... I suppose my only choice now is to enter Jamaica Inn.

Next time we meet – I get to meet my Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss. I discover what a mean and scary man my uncle is. And I discover a locked room – what is inside?   

Vocabulary

inn
pub where people can stay overnight

landlord
person who owns or manages a hotel or an inn

consolation
something that you makes you feel better about a difficult situation

lashing
when rain is lashing, it is falling very heavily, often with a lot of wind

moor(land)
large open area of land with very few trees or plants and very few buildings

queer
(here) strange, unusual

respectable
acceptable to most people in a place

coach
form of transport that is pulled by horses and was used in the past

Credits

Mary:  Alice K Brown

Joss/Vicar: Will Harrison-Wallace

Patience/Mrs Bassat/Mary's mother: Helen Belbin

Jem/Man in carriage: Darren Benedict

Mr Bassat/Man 1: Neil Edgeller

Man 2/Driver: Finn Aberdein

Shipwrecked  people: The cast              

Producer and Sound: Rob Carter

Scriptwriter: Sue Allen

ELT Consultant: Catherine Chapman

Music: Vera Harte

Illustrations: Martin Tidy