Captivated
Subtitle: J.M. Barrie, the du Mauriers and the dark side of Neverland
By: Piers Dudgeon
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 333
ISBN-13: 9780701182168; 9780701182175
Subjects: Friends and associates; English Novelists; Scottish Novelists; Influence; Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.); Imagination; Friendship; Biography
Description: "Captivated is a true story of genius and possession at a crossroads in time, when the late nineteenth-century world of the occult and the psychic arts gave way to the new science of psychology." "The central characters are J.M. Barrie, a man tormented by inner demons since childhood; George du Maurier, the creator of Svengali, who showed how it is possible by means of hypnosis for one person to gain control over the mind of another; and Daphne du Maurier, George's enigmatic granddaughter, author of Rebecca and secret chronicler of her family's story." "This book delves deep, makes links and yields up secrets. It tells how Barrie brought his victims to nervous breakdown, early death and suicide, and how three writers formed an image of their dark side - in Svengali, Peter Pan and Rebecca - and how these images cleaved to reality and took control."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Family Tree -- -- pt. I.; title: 1945-1960: The Lost Boys and Daphne -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Peter's suicide: a case to answer -- -- Ch. 2.; title: What is the secret? -- -- pt. II.; title: 1789-1862: Kicky and Barrie: learning to fly -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Du Maurier dreamers -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Peak experience -- -- Ch. 3.; title: The boy who hated mothers -- -- Ch. 4.; title: Nervous breakdown -- -- pt. III.; title: 1885-1894: Kicky, Barrie and Svengali: the secret -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Impotent and ambitious -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Gateway to Neverland -- -- Ch. 3.; title: Purloining the key -- -- Ch. 4.; title: The corruption of Neverland -- -- pt. IV.; title: 1894-1910: Sylvia, the Lost Boys and Uncle Jim: the Peter Pan Inheritance -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Slipping into madness -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Predator and victim -- -- Ch. 3.; title: Philanderings in the park -- -- Ch. 4.; title: The boy in the box -- -- Ch. 5.; title: Flying Uncle Jim to Neverland -- -- Ch. 6.; title: Peter Pan, a demon boy -- -- Ch. 7.; title: Sylvia's Will -- -- pt. V.; title: 1910-1921: Michael, Daphne and Uncle Jim: 'An Awfully Big Adventure' -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Looking for Michael -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Daphne's initiation -- -- Ch. 3.; title: Michael's suicide -- -- pt. VI.; title: 1921-1989: Uncle Jim and Daphne: the Rebecca Inheritance -- -- Ch. 1.; title: Rebecca, a demon boy -- -- Ch. 2.; title: Breakdown and suicide -- -- Ch. 3.; title: No escape -- -- Appendix.; title: On Women in Love.