The Parasites

by Daphne du Maurier

Book Overview

The backward glances at the careers of the young Delaneys reveal vistas of a vanishing Europe rich in colour and throbbing with old gaiety. The clash of the impulsive, artistic family with the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844080722
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Time Warner Books Uk
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.9" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

A Unique Set up but Brillaint story from my favorite Author

What I find most surprising is all the dissapointment from the readers here on this work. This was one of the very first reads by Ms. DuMaurier that I read and I must say I found it immesnly worth while. I know quite a bit about her and I can tell that this was a personal work and yet, I can also say that her characterzation is flawless. I have never read a book where I did not like all of the main characters, and yet did at the same time. They are annoying and selfish and yet relateable. The story set up is odd, but I liked it. I found the ending most powerful and once again DuMaurier is skilled at an intricate frame of complex relationships. Well done. If you are a first time DuMaurier reader, wait though, get used to her for a while.

"For whom the caps fit....."

...is how Du Maurier dedicated this novel and one has to wonder how personal this story is for her, she herself being a child of famous entertainers. I understand her relationship with her father was a bit unusual to say the least. "Parasites affect their hosts by feeding upon their living tissues or cells, and the intensity of the effect upon the hosts ranges from the slightest local injury to complete destruction." The Encyclopedia Britannica (quoted from the book). My, my, another highly ambiguous ending from Dame Du Maurier and I'm still scratching my head wondering what to make of it. The three Delaney siblings are Maria the actress, Niall the song-writer and Celia the only child parented by Maria's father and Niall's mother (Niall and Maria thus being step-siblings). One day Maria's husband accuses the three of being parasites who have spent their lives feeding off of others and thus begins a series of flashback on the lives of the children and their famous parents as they try to ascertain which one of them is the parasite Charles refers to - or is it all of them? Maria can be anyone she wants to be and is she truly the woman her husband thought he married? Niall loves to make up popular tunes in his head, but he relies (uses) others around him to put pen to ink. Niall adores Maria but at the same time he has what might have more than *brotherly* feelings for her. And Celia, she is dedicated to protecting and caring for her "pappy" who is IMHO the worst parasite of the lot of them. Oh that family visit to the country estate of Charles' parents - truly guests from Hell. The flashbacks were a tad confusing, and you never do know who is actually narrating the story (is there just one narrator or different ones?), and I really didn't get *into the groove* until the last 100 pages or so. And that ending - she sure can leave you hanging in ambiguity wondering what really happened. While Du Maurier's writing is top notch as always, this was a very different novel with very unlikable characters and might be best for die-hard Du Maurier fans only. Four stars, but if it had been written by anyone else it would've only got three.

All the world's a stage...

Parasite: an invertebrate animal preying upon the body of another animal. And that is what Charles thinks of the Delaneys. They have inherited their parents' talents and have done nothing else with their lives. But Charles wasn't specific. Who among the three Delaney children is the parasite? Is it his wife Maria? After all, he knows her better than the rest. And he knows that she is a great actress, so great that she can develop a new personality on cue. And that is precisely her problem. Who is the real Maria? Or is he referring to Niall? Niall is a natural-born talent, a great musician. But his unresolved issues with his mother and his own brooding feelings for his stepsister has stopped him from living his own life. Then there's Celia. Sweet, spinsterish Celia, the only daughter of both Mama and Pappy Delaney (Maria is Pappy's daughter, Neill is Mama's, children borne from a previous relationship). She's the least talented one, not as pretty, and always the mediator. She's also given up on having a husband and children of her own to look after Maria and Charles's kids. She had also looked after her father after her mother died. After Charles's verbal assault, all three of them ponder his meaning, going back to the events that have brought them to where they are today. Are they happy? Could they be anything more than just the Delaneys? Is there a life beyond the entertainment world? Daphne du Maurier dedicates this novel to "Whom the Caps fit." You soon realize that this story is very personal. Du Maurier's parents were both entertainers, and perhaps that part of her life had left some feelings that ran deep for her. She wrote various memoirs and short stories with this same theme. The Parasites, while not the author's best work, is an entertaining and poignant tale of love and loss. I like the way the author uses a rather interesting second-person narrative. All the reader knows is that one of the three Delaney children is the narrator, but which one? And do we get to find out whom it is? That is all I will reveal on the matter. Suffice it to say that the unique narrative style draws you in from the beginning. Another interesting thing is the relationship between Maria, Neill and Celia -- especially the first two. There is a Cathy and Heathcliff feel to them that is quite noticeable from the start. This is especially clear in Maria's selfishness, their unnatural clinginess toward each other since childhood (Maria used to pick on Neill when they were kids) and Neill's jealousy when Maria meets Charles. Their relationship is not as dark or as morbid as Emily Bronte's couple, but the similarities are there. And that is all the information I will supply. Don't want to go all book club discussion-type on you. You will have to read this magnificent book to know the rest. First published in 1949, The Parasites is a nice, quick read from Du Maurier, falling into a lighter cateogory, somewhere between Frenchman's