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Post by franklinmarsh on Oct 19, 2007 20:10:53 GMT
After the Saturday night amphetamine rush of The Devil Rides Out, comes the Sunday morning comedown of To The Devil - A Daughter. We've moved on nearly twenty years and Dennis is taking things at a more leisurely pace.Whereas TDRO was an Occult thriller with a dash of adventure, TTD-AD is more an adventure thriller, with a dash of the Occult - at first.
Molly Fountain is a cheery war widow residing on the French Riviera. To make ends meet, she writes thrillers drawing on her wartime experiences working in Intelligence (DW, like Agatha Christie through her doppelganger Ariadne Oliver, takes pains to point out there's not a great deal of money in writing). Naturally inquisitive, her new neighbour is driving her bananas. A melancholy pale young girl who lounges languidly on the sun terrace by day, but is seemingly more perambulatory at night. Discovering the girl is English, Molly whizzes round with nary an invitation nor introduction. The young misery introduces herself as 'Christina Mordant' but sharp-eyed Ms Fountain spots a manicure set with the initials EB. A confrontation leads to confessions. 'Christina's father has dumped her in France for a month and gone into hiding himself. There's an odd air about her - even Molly's pooch appears terrified. Then Molly's even more cheery,hearty son John appears grumbling about the high British taxes caused by the Socialists. Molly arranges a night out for the pair and both get to see the nocturnal change in Christina. From meek,mild mouse to smokin',boozin',dancin' (She practically rapes John on the dance floor he confides to Molly- who tells him not to be so disgusting) ,gamblin' hussy. An odd cove, the Canon Copely-Syle (What's a man of religion doing in a casino - after midnight? queries Moll) gives her a few tips enabling her to win half a million francs. He's accompanied by the Marquis De Grasse. - one of the most evil men in France gasps the shocked authoress - a collaborater - although he got off as he had the foresight to send his son Jules to be educated in England during the war. Seems the Canon is Christina's godfather, and a 'friend' of her father. Odd, seeing as her dad was positively anti-religious. Unlike her late mother who even tried taking the young girl to chapel - all she got for her pains were copious pools of vomit from the youngster. It's all looking a bit weird - especially when Molly lobs a crucifix to Christina, who catches it then yelps as if scalded. She's possessed by the Devil!. The de Grasses (Junior and Senior) are attempting to get hold of the young split-personality for nefarious ends. John 'n' Moll have the problem of Christina's ever changing moods come nighttime. They need help. Who better than Molly's old boss Colonel William Verney - known colloquially as (wait for it) Conkey Bill (Raptorous applause and cheers from DWs legions of fans - a groan from the Whitechapel area). In these pre Citizen's Band days you can even call him CB. He's keeping Britain's shores safe from Communists and fellow travellers. How times change! It seems not five minutes ago he was investigating Fascists. Not to worry - Black Magic Practitioners are the worst of the lot. There follows lots of derring-do,fisticuffs, Christina shuttling between the de Grasses and the good guys, and when great DW unexpected moment. Halfway through the book and Christina has been put in prison for her own safety (led away by a fat, garlic-smelling wardress), the de Grasses are apparently thwarted and John plus CB are heading for England to locate Christina's father who is at the core of the mystery. They can't find him but spot Copeley-Syle and CB decides to beard him in his den, posing as a de Grasse messenger and friend-of-Crowley Occultist. This is where the book gets really good. The whole sequence in the Priory is top-notch with even cheeky referencing of characters and events from TDRO. Genuinely suspenseful and we're off on another DW rollercoaster - the eventual tracking down of the girl's father and revealing of her secret, neon pentacles, spookiness in the chapel, the Canon's dreadful plan and back to France for the slam-bang ending. It takes a while to get going but it's well worth the wait. There's some waffle but it doesn't bore, not too much ranting to get up your funnell, at times it appears to be a rewrite of TDRO but then I've read the two virtually one after the other. Must watch the film and put some thoughts up.
NB This book has a special family meaning for me. My relations avoided the horror genre (apart from the occasional slip, such as the shelf of Pans in Oxfordshire and my grandmother revealing that she had seen the Lon Chany Hunchback Of Notre Dame - at the cinema!) and my grandparents found it hilarious that my uncle had read this and (literally) woken up screaming from a nightmare in which he was being chased by Satanists in the Cave of Bats. I mentioned this to my mum recently, and she said she'd read it too, it terrified her and she thought it far worse than TDRO! There's no accounting for taste!
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Post by franklinmarsh on Oct 17, 2008 19:26:04 GMT
Hooray for Peff! This one's for Baron Vordenberg. Arrow paperback - 1964 reprint |
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Post by wordswortheditions on Oct 27, 2008 15:55:20 GMT
With An Introduction by Anthony LejeuneWhy did the solitary girl leave her rented house on the French Riviera only for short walks at night? Why was she so frightened? Why did animals shrink away from her? The girl herself didn’t know, and was certainly not aware of the terrible appointment which had been made for her long ago and was now drawing close. Molly Fountain, the tough-minded Englishwoman living next door, was determined to find the answer. She sent for a wartime secret service colleague to come and help. What they discovered was horrifying beyond anything they could have imagined. Dennis Wheatley returned in this book to his black magic theme which he had made so much his own with his famous best seller The Devil Rides Out. In the cumulative shock of its revelations, the use of arcane knowledge, the mounting suspense and acceleration to a fearful climax, he out-does even that earlier achievement. This is, by any standards, a terrific story. |
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Post by dem bones on Aug 3, 2017 19:12:54 GMT
Alternative editions. He was almost invariably well served by artists and photographers. Dennis Wheatley - To The Devil - A Daughter (Arrow 11th impression, 1977) Blurb: Christina seemed no different from any other young girl: polite, attractive and a little shy. But each evening, as darkness fell, the demonic Power within her betrayed its presence. And a terrible pattern of Evil began to emerge. Miles away, in the mist and rain of the Essex marshes, a satanic priest has created a hideous creature. Now it was waiting beneath the ancient stones of Bentford Priory for the virgin sacrifice that would give it life … 1969 1985 |
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Post by cromagnonman on Aug 3, 2017 20:22:23 GMT
That's very true Dem. Its largely for that reason I guess - to say nothing of a large dash of incipient nostalgia - that although I rarely visit my shelf of Wheatleys these days nothing on this earth - or beyond it - would ever induce me to part with them. Here's my Arrow edition of 1961:   |
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Post by dem bones on Aug 4, 2017 8:18:06 GMT
Ah yes. Sax is one of the greats. I adore S. R. Boldero's work, too. The cover paintings were almost invariably either very beautiful or bloody weird, and I adore the staged photo covers circa late 'seventies through to the 'eighties. When Vault started, 'Flame girl' quickly achieved pin-up status. Dennis Wheatley - They Used Dark Forces (Arrow, 1966: originally Hutchinson, 1964) Blurb: He makes the most, incredible seem absolutely real….SUNDAY TIMES
THEY USED DARK FORCES tells how Gregory Sallust allies himself with Satanic powers in an attempt to destroy Hitler. The beautiful (but by now promiscuous) Sabine, and Sallust’s great love, Erika von Epp, play their parts in a stupendous drama which ends with the Russians fighting their way into the flames of Berlin while Sallust comes face to face with his most implacable enemy, the sadistic SS Gruppenfuhrer Grauber. . ..Dennis Wheatley - They Used Dark Forces (Arrow 1982) Blurb: It is 1943. Gregory Sallust parachutes into Nazi Germany. His mission - to penetrate the secret rocket installations at Peenemunde.
Intelligence reports have spoken of contacts on the ground, war-weary Germans anxious to hasten the end of hostilities. But nothing has prepared him for Ibrahim Malacou: hypnotist, astrologer and disciple of Satan. for both men this is the start of a long, uneasy partnership. And the first in a chain of events that will lead Gregory into the most desperate gamble of his life.Abiding memory of this one is that slick had long passed him by and the novel seemed twice the length it ought to be. Sallust to-ing and fro-ng from the concentration camp seemingly as and when the mood took him struck me as incredibly offensive on initial reading (i.e., toward close of previos century), and it's not a novel I've been in any rush to revisit, especially while still traumatised from ill-advised rematch with Gateway To Hell. |
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Post by helrunar on Aug 28, 2017 14:47:25 GMT
Great write-up, Franklin Marsh. This one sounds like an all-out flaming hoot.
cheers, H. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 14, 2021 2:40:39 GMT
Here's the original Hutchinson (1953) dust cover - 
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Mirek
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 13 
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Post by Mirek on Mar 26, 2021 17:53:08 GMT
Finished reading it a couple of days ago. Many parts are nothing like the film, including the ending. Though it is a long book, reading it went by quickly. Well done.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 24, 2021 14:41:37 GMT
Found another edition (post flame babe - introducing Wonderwoman-a-like) at this morning's market. Dennis Wheatley - To The Devil - A Daughter (Mandarin 1983)  Photo: Herb SchmitzBlurb: Handmaiden of the Devil
Beneath the azure sky of the French Riviera, Christina Mordant looks and behaves like any other attractive girl. But each night as darkness falls, the demon within her betrays its presence.
A thousand miles away, deep in the Essex marshes, a priest of Satan is about to achieve his life's ambition: Canon Copely-Syle of Bentford Priory prepares for the virgin sacrifice which will give breath to the foul abomination he has created... |
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