Early reviews of Mistress of Mellyn noted the novel's resemblance at many points to both Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1938). Bronte's novel features an orphaned governess who is thrown into unfamiliar circumstances and ends up falling in love with her employer.

In the background is a first wife and an unhappy marriage. The present is haunted by this unhappiness. Du Maurier updated the story and moved it forward to the stage when the pair are married and the mystery of the man's first wife dominates and nearly destroys the new marriage. The novels are narrated by the woman who has been introduced into this new situation. The only chance of happiness that either couple has is in the solution of a mystery about the man's relationship with his first wife. In each, the man is a troubled character who combines the traits...