My Cousin Rachel

Do you believe Rachel poisoned Ambrose and Philip? What convinced you one way or the other?

Du Maurier never confirms Rachel’s guilt or innocence. Did you appreciate the ambiguity, or did you want a clear answer?

Philip knows the bridge is unsafe and knows Rachel will be walking nearby, yet he says nothing. How much responsibility does he hold for her death?

What do you imagine Philip’s future with Louise looks like? How do you think she’ll treat him, knowing what she knows?

Philip tells this story after the fact, consumed by guilt and grief. Which parts of his account do you trust, and where do you think he’s misreading Rachel, or himself?

Philip grew up in a house with almost no women, raised by a cousin who distrusted them. How does that shape the way he sees Rachel? How he sees other women in the novel?

Very little actually “happens” for long stretches of the novel, yet it’s full of tension. How does du Maurier keep us on edge?

Rachel is a widow, a foreigner, and a woman with her own opinions about money and independence. Which expectations of women does she meet, and which does she refuse? How do the other characters react?

Money runs through the whole book: Rachel’s spending, her allowance, Philip signing the estate over to her. Is her interest in money a sign of guilt, or a reasonable response to having no security of her own?

What role does Rainaldi play? Did your view of him change over the course of the book?

The novel opens and closes with Philip recalling the hanging of a man at Four Turnings. Why frame the story this way?

If you’ve read "Rebecca," how does Rachel compare to du Maurier’s other famously mysterious woman?