You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
Can't comment - it's a book group book...I would prefer to be 3.5 stars!
Impressive! Daphne du Maurier can do no wrong. I found The Parasites very different from the other du Maurier books in terms of this book lacking the usual gothic vibe, darkness and mystery. The book is set in an afternoon in a country house where three children of the famous singer Pappy and the amazing dancer Mommy are called parasites by Charles, the husband of Maria, the eldest daughter. Maria, Niall and Celia sit around and remember their childhood whilst Charles is still bitter and cold towards them. It is fascinating how the siblings/half-siblings are so different from each other and how each character has been given deep layers for the reader to discover in each chapter. We love, pity and loathe all three of them during the course of this book. Their childhood is chaotic, funny and colourful. Maria being the daughter of the father, Niall being the son of the mother and Celia being the only common biological child of both parents, are spoilt, are given what they want and are not given the total love and affection they need when they need it. After they lose their mother, Niall is sent to school to improve his music skills, if he has any. Maria becomes an actress and is given free pass and lead roles because of her surname. And Celia travels with Pappy while he continues to perform. Later on, Maria gets married to Charles, Niall sets of to Paris with an elderly woman and becomes famous for "pop" tunes and cheap music and Celia is bound to look after a difficult Pappy and neglects her talent in drawing. Maria is spoilt, selfish, self-centred, sexy but still naive, incapable of management, lacks self-confidence and power. Niall is a lost child, neglected by her own mother, suppressed by fear, a free spirit, a lazy and empty guy with so much affection for Maria, looking for a meaning in life. Celia, being the most giving of them all, is a suppressed, afraid, coward spinster, who finds excuses to sacrifice herself for someone else because she is too afraid to live her own life and face the consequences, heartbreaks and failures. They are all flawed, but brilliantly written. In the beginning I thought I would not like this book as much as the other du Maurier books, but I am left amazed by it at the end.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A criminally underrated du Maurier classic, with almost none of her usual thematic conventions (apart from rich people being rich, of course). Maria, Niall, and Celia are given to the reader in all of their messy, morally dubious, deeply introspective glory, and I love how du Maurier shows us why they make such bad decisions without justifying their actions, by striking the perfect balance between empathy and judgement. I felt sorry for them one minute, and rolled my eyes at them the next. I’ve seen some reviewers say it had too much navel-gazing, but I can’t help but eat up every reflective passage because du Maurier writes so beautifully. Brilliant storytelling and character building - du Maurier never disappoints <3
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Impressive! Daphne du Maurier can do no wrong. I found The Parasites very different from the other du Maurier books in terms of this book lacking the usual gothic vibe, darkness and mystery. The book is set in an afternoon in a country house where three children of the famous singer Pappy and the amazing dancer Mommy are called parasites by Charles, the husband of Maria, the eldest daughter. Maria, Niall and Celia sit around and remember their childhood whilst Charles is still bitter and cold towards them. It is fascinating how the siblings/half-siblings are so different from each other and how each character has been given deep layers for the reader to discover in each chapter. We love, pity and loathe all three of them during the course of this book. Their childhood is chaotic, funny and colourful. Maria being the daughter of the father, Niall being the son of the mother and Celia being the only common biological child of both parents, are spoilt, are given what they want and are not given the total love and affection they need when they need it. After they lose their mother, Niall is sent to school to improve his music skills, if he has any. Maria becomes an actress and is given free pass and lead roles because of her surname. And Celia travels with Pappy while he continues to perform. Later on, Maria gets married to Charles, Niall sets of to Paris with an elderly woman and becomes famous for "pop" tunes and cheap music and Celia is bound to look after a difficult Pappy and neglects her talent in drawing. Maria is spoilt, selfish, self-centred, sexy but still naive, incapable of management, lacks self-confidence and power. Niall is a lost child, neglected by her own mother, suppressed by fear, a free spirit, a lazy and empty guy with so much affection for Maria, looking for a meaning in life. Celia, being the most giving of them all, is a suppressed, afraid, coward spinster, who finds excuses to sacrifice herself for someone else because she is too afraid to live her own life and face the consequences, heartbreaks and failures. They are all flawed, but brilliantly written. In the beginning I thought I would not like this book as much as the other du Maurier books, but I am left amazed by it at the end.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Parasites is a story that floats around the lives of the Delaney siblings as they contemplate their experiences and relationships after being called parasites, just living off of their parents’ fame. Niall is the son of their mother, Maria of their father, and Celia of both, but they are close in age and in their unusual childhood where they were shunted around hotels, they never understood the connections between them.
Du Maurier chose to to use the third person plural in this book, which is very unique and sort of expresses to me how the three siblings together sort of make up one person. Niall is often crippled with anxiety, in his childhood particularly related to his mother and letting her down, though she doesn’t pay any of them much attention really. Maria is the eldest but she acts the youngest. She is very ignorant to what is going on around her as she immerses herself in characters and she doesn’t really know if she has her own personality outside that. On the other hand, Celia is the youngest but looks after everyone, in particular their father, without anyone realising how much she is doing. She has the opportunity to do big things like her siblings, but she wants to focus on helping other people so she doesn’t have to focus on herself.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes