Julius

‘His first instinct was to stretch out his hands to the sky. The white clouds seemed so near to him,surely they were easy to hold and to caressstrange-moving things belonging to the wide blue space of heaven . . . ‘ Julius Levy grows up in a peasant family in a village on the banks of the Seine. A quick-witted urchin caught up in the Franco-Prussian Warhe is soon forced by tragedy to escape to Algeria. Once therehe learns the ease of swindlingthe rewards of love affairs and the value of secrecy. Before he’s twentyhe is in Londonwhere his empire-building begins in earnestand he becomes a rich and very ruthless man. Throughout his lifeJulius is driven by a hunger for powerhis one weakness his daughterGabriel . . . A chilling story of ambitionDaphne du Maurier’s third novel has lost none of its ability to unsettle and disturb.