In his revelatory Neverland, Piers Dudgeon tells the tragic story of J. M. Barrie and the Du Maurier family. Driven by a need to fill the vacuum left by sexual impotence, Barrie sought out George du Maurier, Daphne du Maurier s grandfather (author of the famed Trilby), who specialized in hypnosis. Barrie s fascination and obsession with the Du Maurier family is a shocking study of greed and psychological abuse, as we observe Barrie as he applies these lessons in mind control to captivate George s daughter Sylvia, his son Gerald, as well as their children who became the inspiration for the Darling family in Barrie s immortal Peter Pan. Barrie later altered Sylvia s will after her death so that he could become the boys legal guardian, while pushing several members of the family to nervous breakdown and suicide. Barrie s compulsion to dominate was so apparent to those around him that D. H. Lawrence once wrote: J. M Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die."
In his revelatory Neverland, Piers Dudgeon tells the tragic story of J. M. Barrie and the Du Maurier family. Driven by a need to fill the vacuum left by sexual impotence, Barrie sought out George du Maurier, Daphne du Maurier s grandfather (author of the famed Trilby), who specialized in hypnosis. Barrie s fascination and obsession with the Du Maurier family is a shocking study of greed and psychological abuse, as we observe Barrie as he applies these lessons in mind control to captivate George s daughter Sylvia, his son Gerald, as well as their children who became the inspiration for the Darling family in Barrie s immortal Peter Pan. Barrie later altered Sylvia s will after her death so that he could become the boys legal guardian, while pushing several members of the family to nervous breakdown and suicide. Barrie s compulsion to dominate was so apparent to those around him that D. H. Lawrence once wrote: J. M Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die."
