Trilby

Written by George du Maurier

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Trilby, published in 1894, fits into the gothic horror genre which was undergoing a revival during the Fin de siècle and is one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle period after Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The story of the poor artist's model Trilby O'Ferrall, transformed into a diva under the spell of the evil musical genius Svengali, created a sensation. Soap, songs, dances, toothpaste, and Trilby, Florida were all named for the heroine, and a variety of soft felt hat with an indented crown (worn in the London stage production of a dramatization of the novel) came to be called a trilby.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

George du Maurier

George du Maurier (1834-1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist, novelist, and short story writer. Born in Paris, du Maurier was raised in an aristocratic family whose fortunes had dwindled following his paternal grandfather’s implication in a 1789 financial scandal. His mother, Ellen Clarke, was the daughter of courtesan Mary Anne Clarke, the former mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Educated in Paris at the art studio of Charles Gleyre, du Maurier moved to Antwerp and Düsseldorf—where he sought help for an ailment in his left eye—before settling in London in 1851. There, he married Emma Wightwick, with whom he would raise five children, some of whom went on to successful careers in the arts. In 1865, du Maurier found work as a cartoonist for Punch magazine, where he gained a reputation as a leading satirist for cartoons poking fun at Victorian society and the burgeoning middle class. In addition to his black and white drawings for Punch, du Maurier produced illustrations for such periodicals as Harper’s, The Graphic, and The Cornhill Magazine. As his eyesight failed, du Maurier turned increasingly to fiction, writing the play Peter Ibbetson (1891) and the popular gothic horror novel Trilby (1894), both of which have been adapted for theater and film.