Philip Ashley is much like the second wife in Rebecca. Because they are young and inexperienced, they cannot accurately judge the character of others. Philip must decide if his beloved Ambrose, his older cousin and guardian, became simply ill while in Italy or if he was poisoned by Rachel, his cousin and new wife. In some ways, Ambrose is like Maxim, the husband in Rebecca. Both Maxim and Ambrose are older than the narrator and consequently assume a paternal role. Too, Ambrose seems to be more than just a father figure. Women are shunned in the home Ambrose creates for Philip, and Philip is intensely jealous of Rachel when Ambrose writes about her. There is, then, a homoerotic cast to the relationship of Ambrose and Philip.

When Rachel comes to England, a widow, Philip vacillates between loving and fearing her. Because My Cousin Rachel is told through Philip's...