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| Children of Violence | |
|---|---|
| Name | Children of Violence |
| Author | Daphne du Maurier |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English language |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz Ltd |
| Pub date | 1940–1959 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | "various" |
Children of Violence
Children of Violence is a five‑novel sequence by Daphne du Maurier tracing the life of a woman across the mid‑twentieth century. Combining elements of psychological novel, social realism, and gothic sensibility, the sequence follows personal and historical upheavals reflecting shifts in British society before, during, and after World War II. The work engages with themes of identity, class, gender, and trauma while intersecting with cultural figures and institutions of the period.
The sequence comprises five novels: The first volume, published in 1940, introduces the protagonist’s family and milieu; subsequent volumes—issued throughout the 1940s and 1950s—map her marriages, losses, and psychological evolution against events such as The Blitz, Bletchley Park, and postwar reconstruction. Du Maurier’s narrative intersects with the social worlds of London, Cornwall, and provincial English towns, bringing into contact references to contemporary institutions like BBC broadcasting, literary networks surrounding Virago Press later reprints, and theatrical adaptations by companies such as the Royal Shakespeare Company. Critics have compared du Maurier’s portraiture to contemporaries including Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Kingsley Amis.
Du Maurier began composing the cycle amid the turbulence of World War II and the interwar anxieties that preceded it. Influences cited in scholarly discussions include the theatrical family milieu of du Maurier herself, ties to Hampstead and Bermondsey social circles, and the literary patronage networks exemplified by Victor Gollancz Ltd and reviewers at newspapers such as The Times and The Observer. The author drew on biographical resonances from figures like Gerald du Maurier and Sir Noël Coward's cultural moment, as well as the psychological inquiry prevalent in works by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that shaped midcentury fiction. Compositional processes involved collaboration with editors linked to Faber and Faber and serial publication practices in periodicals including Harper's Bazaar and The New Yorker.
The narrative arc charts a protagonist’s maturation from adolescence through middle age, encompassing rites of passage, marriage, bereavement, and moral crises. Major plotbeats intersect with historical touchstones: evacuation policies of Operation Pied Piper, the civilian experience of The Blitz, wartime intelligence efforts at Bletchley Park, and postwar welfare measures debated in Westminster. Thematically, the cycle probes questions of female autonomy seen alongside the activism of figures such as Emmeline Pankhurst and the cultural aftereffects of the Suffragette movement. Du Maurier interrogates class mobility through encounters with landed families, industrial managers, and bureaucratic institutions tied to Industrial Britain, while exploring psychological disruption echoing studies by Anna Freud and literary precedents set by Thomas Hardy and George Eliot.
The protagonist’s trajectory involves interactions with a wide cast: family members reminiscent of theatrical dynasties like the Barrymore family, friends who recall interwar socialites associated with Bloomsbury Group circles, and antagonists analogous to civil servants found in Whitehall. Secondary figures evoke public personalities—actors linked to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, writers such as Noël Coward and Elizabeth Bowen, and intellectuals in the orbit of T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden—all reconfigured within du Maurier’s fictional economy. Relationships with medical and psychiatric professionals recall contemporaneous practitioners in institutions like Guy's Hospital and research at Institute of Psychiatry, London.
Initial volumes appeared during wartime and immediate postwar publishing climates dominated by firms such as Victor Gollancz Ltd and Hutchinson (publisher). Reviews ran in outlets including The Times Literary Supplement, The Observer, and The Spectator, generating debate among critics like Harold Nicolson and commentators in The Guardian. Some reviewers lauded du Maurier’s psychological acuity and narrative craft, placing her alongside midcentury novelists such as Elizabeth Bowen and E. M. Forster; others critiqued perceived melodrama in relation to the realist projects of George Orwell and Anthony Powell. The sequence has been the subject of academic studies at institutions like University of Cambridge, King's College London, and University of Oxford.
Portions of the cycle inspired theatrical and radio dramatizations produced by companies such as the BBC and RADA alumni ensembles. Directors connected to the Royal Court Theatre and producers from Anglo‑American Film Corporation adapted episodes for stage and television, occasionally featuring performers associated with John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. While no single comprehensive film epic was produced, excerpts have appeared in televised anthologies and campus productions at University of Edinburgh and University of Manchester drama societies.
The sequence contributed to du Maurier’s standing among twentieth‑century British novelists and influenced subsequent writers exploring female interiority, including members of Second Wave feminism literary circles and novelists like Pat Barker, Penelope Lively, and Margaret Drabble. Reprints by specialty imprints and discussions at conferences hosted by British Library and National Trust sites tied to du Maurier have sustained interest. Scholars link the work’s sustained resonance to its engagement with wartime experience, psychological realism, and narrative techniques later examined in studies by academics at University College London and the Institute of English Studies.
Category:Novels by Daphne du Maurier