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This year I discovered Daphne Du Maurier for the first time. I’d obviously heard of her and her work but never actually read anything by her. So, I took the plunge and read her most famous work ‘Rebecca�. I was blown away. I had never read anything quite like it in my life. That encouraged me to seek out more books and this year I have also read Jamaica Inn, The Scapegoat and the short story The Breakthrough. Each book has been completely different to the last and yet they have all blown me away. There is a sheer brilliance to Daphne Du Maurier’s work, her ability to set the scene and weave a compelling story is just sublime. Therefore, I felt it was time for another one of her novels.

This one is called ‘Julius� it was first published in 1933 when Du Maurier was just 26 years old. It was originally called ‘The Progress of Julius� and it was her third novel. It isn’t as well known or as widely talked about as some of her later works and when you read it, it is easy to see why, as there are some rather troubling aspects to this story. The subject matter some of which is blatantly and obviously wrong and other aspects which whilst equally wrong are far more insidious and only hinted at, therefore I am certain it must have created a bit of a stir when it was first written back in the 1930s.

It really is a deeply disturbing and uncomfortable story to read. It is the life story of a man called Julius Levy. A man who today would be classified as a narcissistic sadist and a sociopath. The story starts in 1860 in France and the scene is set with Julius as a young child and he is looking up at the sky at the clouds and reaching for them wondering why he cannot reach them. He lives with his bombastic bullying grandfather, his mother who it seems is a female version of her father and his quiet unassuming Jewish father. It is at this point I should point out there is a significant amount of anti Semitism in the story. His father is bullied relentlessly by his grandfather and is almost invisible in the early part of the story, just a presence to be ridiculed. I have read that Du Maurier later considered removing the antisemitic aspects of the story, but I am glad she didn’t because Julius was half Jewish, and it is that aspect of his life which gives him added depth and prevents him becoming a complete one-dimensional evil monster and had she removed that, the entire story would’ve lacked the depth it has as a result. You just have to keep in mind that when this story was written and also the time in which the story is set the tone and views expressed were common and widespread.

The story follows Julius from his quiet childhood village to Paris and beyond as he grows up. As usual Du Maurier effortlessly creates a complete sense of place so rich in detail that you can actually visualise yourself right there seeing life through the eyes of the young Julius. Then there is her characterisation which is so chillingly magnificent in this case. Julius, at first a seemingly sweet normal child, although as he grows his astuteness and cunning is evident from an early age and as he grows he becomes a completely dislikeable character who shows a complete disregard for everyone he comes into contact with. His cruel controlling and heartless nature first appears as a young child when the family flees their village at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war. Where it becomes clear that love, possession and control are the same thing in his mind with a short but totally brutally shocking scene which sets the tone and tells you exactly what sort of person Julius is. Yet it is the genius of Du Maurier’s writing and storytelling which makes you want to carry on reading and find out what happens next as the story progresses, and actually eager to find out more about this heinous man and while he gets increasingly worse in his behaviour, you actually want him to succeed and want to see if there are any redeeming characteristics in him. It is all done with such subtlety you don’t actually realise it and that is the genius of Daphne Du Maurier’s writing, where a less talented writer would leave you feeling overwhelmed by such a twisted character and his appalling actions and behaviour.

Julius is certainly a tremendously complex character, the list of his repulsive faults and flaws is seemingly endless. He does not live in the here and now he is always searching for something more and he is basically completely ruthless with how he goes about achieving his goals. He is a man who wants to control, possess and dominate and will literally stop at nothing, and people are just a commodity to him to realise his dreams. The darkest part of the story is his unhealthy and obsessive relationship with his daughter and how that all comes about. Questions have been raised over the years as to whether aspects of the relationship Du Maurier had with her own father Gerald who it has been written was a very controlling and domineering character have been used in the relationship between Julius and his daughter Gabriel, and this part of the story is quite uncomfortable to read as it does hint at an almost incestuous controlling and ultimately destructive relationship.

Although Julius achieves tremendous success, he also ultimately destroys everyone in his life with his actions and behaviour in one way or another. In the end he is written as a very sad pathetic character as he ultimately destroys himself, and in the final chapter the story ends as it began with him looking up at the sky and reaching for the clouds. It was an oddly moving ending considering everything that had occurred and how in some respects Julius had got what he deserved at the end, and once again that shows the genius of the story telling ability of Du Maurier which manages to provoke such a wide-ranging plethora of emotions from the reader.

This book is certainly uncomfortable and shocking in parts and on the other hand it could also be argued that by today’s standards this story is considered tame in some respects and yet completely in your face shocking in others. Then there is also the underlying subtlety as some things are just hinted at that it has an edgy feel to it and wrings out every possible emotion from the reader and just takes you on the ride of your life. This is without a doubt a powerful masterpiece of psychology delving into the more unsavoury aspects of human nature whilst creating a completely compelling, captivating and convincing story with an almost fable like conclusion.