The Parasites is a novel by Daphne du Maurier, first published in 1949. The novel follows an emotionally entangled bohemian family, the Delaneys, [1] who lead complex and frequently scandalous lives, and their strange relationships with one another. The book explores both their childhood and adult life, creating a circle seemingly closed to all outsiders. The world in which they live is sophisticated, gay, and sometimes tragic.
Daphne du Maurier began work on The Parasites in early 1949, taking inspiration from her time in the theater world and from her family life. The novel was published in the fall. [2]
The novel follows the three children of the Delaney family - Maria, Niall, and Celia - from childhood to adulthood. Maria and Niall are not biologically related, conceived from their respective parent's previous relationships, whilst Celia is the legitimate offspring of Maria's father and Niall's mother. Pappy, as the trio call their father, was a singer, and their Mama a dancer.
Maria becomes a beautiful, successful actress, the wife of Sir Charles Wyndham. Niall Delaney writes the songs and melodies that everyone sings and plays. Celia, generous and charming, took care of their father before his death, and delights in Maria's children. Between Maria and Niall there exists a strange affinity—sometimes physical, sometimes spiritual. They are both subtly aware of it, and so is Sir Charles. Perhaps it was this that impelled Maria's husband to exclaim bitterly:
"Parasites, that's what you are. The three of you. You always have been and you always will be. Nothing can change you. You are doubly, triply parasitic; first, because you've traded since childhood on that seed of talent you had the luck to inherit from your fantastic forebears; secondly, because none of you have done a stroke of honest work in your lives but batten on us, the fool public; and thirdly, because you prey on each other, living in a world of fantasy which bears no relation to anything in heaven or on earth."
Though the novel sold well, it received several poor reviews from critics who found it overly titillating. [3] These included John Betjeman of the Daily Herald, who criticized du Maurier's "heavy, dull and obvious sentences" and caused publisher Victor Gollancz to send him a rare rebuke. Ivor Brown of The New York Times Book Review, however, praised the book as "magnetic." [2]
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist.
Margaret Forster was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and critic, best known for the 1965 novel Georgy Girl, made into a successful film of the same name, which inspired a hit song by The Seekers. Other successes were a 2003 novel, Diary of an Ordinary Woman, biographies of Daphne du Maurier and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and her memoirs Hidden Lives and Precious Lives.
Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, Rebecca.
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont, with whom he had three daughters: writers Angela du Maurier (1904–2002) and Dame Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989), and painter Jeanne du Maurier (1911–1997). His popularity was due to his subtle and naturalistic acting: a "delicately realistic style of acting that sought to suggest rather than to state the deeper emotions". His Times obituary said of his career: "His parentage assured him of engagements in the best of company to begin with; but it was his own talent that took advantage of them."
Rebecca's Tale is a 2001 novel by British author Sally Beauman. The book is a sequel to the Daphne du Maurier novel Rebecca and is officially approved by the Du Maurier estate. It continues the original plot and is also roughly consistent with the 1993 sequel Mrs de Winter by Susan Hill.
Hungry Hill or Knockday is the highest of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula in Munster, Ireland.
A parasite is an organism that has sustained contact with another organism to the detriment of the host organism.
Hungry Hill is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier, published in 1943. It was her seventh novel. There have been 33 editions of the book printed.
A Sucessora is a novel written by the Brazilian writer Carolina Nabuco. It was first published in 1934 and was later adapted into the 1978 telenovela A Sucessora.
The Davies boys were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, in which several of the characters were named after them. They were the sons of Sylvia (1866–1910) and Arthur Llewelyn Davies (1863–1907). Their mother was a daughter of French-born cartoonist and writer George du Maurier and sister of actor Gerald du Maurier, whose daughter was author Daphne du Maurier. Their father was a son of preacher John Llewelyn Davies, and brother of suffragist Margaret Llewelyn Davies.
The House on the Strand is a novel by Daphne du Maurier, first published in the UK in 1969 by Victor Gollancz, with a jacket illustration by her daughter, Flavia Tower. The US edition was published by Doubleday.
Peter Ibbetson is a 1935 American black-and-white drama/fantasy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Gary Cooper and Ann Harding. The film is loosely based on the 1891 novel of the same name by George du Maurier. A tale of a love that transcends all obstacles, it relates the story of two youngsters who are separated in childhood and then drawn together by destiny years later. Even though they are separated in real life because Peter is unjustly convicted of murder, they discover they can dream themselves into each other's consciousness while asleep. In this way, they live out their lives together. The transitions between reality and fantasy are captured by the cinematography of Charles Lang, as discussed in the documentary Visions of Light (1992).
Angela Busson du Maurier was an English actress and novelist who also wrote two volumes of autobiography, It's Only the Sister (1951) and Old Maids Remember (1965). Her sister was the novelist Daphne du Maurier, and her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist.
The King's General is a novel, published in 1946, by English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier.
Rule Britannia is Daphne du Maurier's last novel, published in 1972 by Victor Gollancz. The novel is set in a fictional near future in which the UK's recent withdrawal from the EEC has brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.
Cannon Hall at 14 Cannon Place, Hampstead, London is a grade II* listed building that dates from around 1720. The house is the former home of the actor Gerald du Maurier, his wife Muriel Beaumont, and their three children, the writers Angela du Maurier and Daphne du Maurier and the painter Jeanne du Maurier.
Carolina Nabuco, born Maria Carolina Nabuco de Araújo, was a Brazilian writer and translator.
Jeanne du Maurier was an English artist. She was the third daughter of Sir Gerald du Maurier and Muriel Beaumont, and sister of writers Daphne and Angela du Maurier.
Mexican Gothic is a 2020 gothic horror novel by Mexican Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It centers on a young woman investigating her cousin's claims that her husband is trying to murder her.
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