Gillian

by Frank Yerby

DAMNED BY DESIRE

Beautiful, sensual Gillian MacAllister had seen her mother degraded by men, and vowed not to follow in her footsteps. Instead Gillian would use men as her tools of pleasure and ambition, to be discarded when they had served their purpose. No man could resist her, no man could keep her, as she climbed the rungs of power and privilege from the raw Southern steel town of Birmingham in the 1890's to the glittering and corrupt capitals of Europe, moving ever closer to her moment of ultimate, overwhelming truth.

Temperamental Gillian, heiress of an Alabama fortune, was capable of great loving kindness. But her appetite for corrupting and ruining lives was stronger. One of the many people whose life she ruined murdered her. Now Geoffrey Lynne must find out who done it before his brother, Gregory, is hung for the crime. Geoffrey knows Gregory is innocent. The only problem is that Gregory has confessed and his execution has been scheduled.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Born in Augusta, Georgia to Rufus Garvin Yerby, an African American, and Wilhelmina Smythe, who was caucasian. He graduated from Haines Normal Institute in Augusta and graduated from Paine College in 1937. Thereafter, Yerby enrolled in Fisk University where he received his Master's degree in 1938. In 1939, Yerby entered the University of Chicago to work toward his doctorate but later left the university. Yerby taught briefly at Florida A&M University and at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

Frank Yerby rose to fame as a writer of popular fiction tinged with a distinctive southern flavor. In 1946 he became the first African-American to publish a best-seller with The Foxes of Harrow. That same year he also became the first African-American to have a book purchased for screen adaptation by a Hollywood studio, when 20th Century Fox optioned Foxes. Ultimately the book became a 1947 Oscar-nominated film starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O'Hara. Yerby was originally noted for writing romance novels set in the Antebellum South. In mid-century he embarked on a series of best-selling novels ranging from the Athens of Pericles to Europe in the Dark Ages. Yerby took considerable pains in research, and often footnoted his historical novels. In all he wrote 33 novels.

Reviews

[vik · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book so much.
i came across this book while i was in guadalajara, i had been passing by a second hand book store and decided to go in and ask for books in englsh.
how fortunate i must be to have come in contact with gillian by frank yerby.
this book has everything i love about fiction, there’s a sort of murder mystery revolving around the story, along with scandals involving a lot of the characters, and romance.
if i could rate this book higher then i would, by far it’s my favorite fiction read this year

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit different from the other books of Frank Yerby which I have read. Murder mystery , which I do not like but his characters made it a very good book. it even kept my up reading until 3 am to finish. that was what I wrote the first time I read it two years ago. Reread this week and not so good, I guess because I knew the ending. Still deserves 4 stars for first reading but only 2 for second reading. I am running out of books to read.

[Kamilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gillian MacAllister é pura maldade, da unha do pé até o último fio de cabelo, uma força maligna que destrói tudo o que toca, pelo menos essa é a opinião dos homens que conviveram com ela rs

Na verdade Gillian é uma espécie de Laura Palmer, que nós iremos conhecer mais pela percepção dos demais personagens a respeito da sua personalidade do que através de suas próprias palavras.

O narrador é um dos homens mais insuportáveis que eu já tive que aturar, mas a história de Gillian consegue manter o livro interessante e o mistério proposto perdura até a última página.

De fato, pelas atitudes da beldade creio que ela tivesse algum desvio mental, fico entre bipolaridade, sociopatia ou até mesmo uma forma bem extrema de narcisismo, o problema é que todos os personagens que irão testemunhar o caráter de Gillian tem bastante a perder dependendo o rumo do testemunho em questão, o que torna todos eles narradores não confiáveis.

O livro é um retrato do Sul americano pós guerra civil, foi publicado pela primeira vez em 1960, então o teor de machismo e racismo é bem problemático para os leitores atuais.

O herói tem uma trajetória interessante de cair bem jovem no 'feitiço' de Gillian a precisar reconstruir a própria vida enquanto se recupera dos efeitos do relacionamento. A suposta heroína e rival de Gillian na narrativa me despertou o interesse por pouco tempo, mas no final eu não consegui gostar dela.

Gillian, como a maioria dos personagens sem voz, deixa alguns eternos pontos de interrogação na cabeça do leitor mesmo depois que o livro termina, ela pode não ser a florzinha mais delicada do Sul, mas sem dúvida é a mais interessante da história.

[Michael David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frank Yerby was more capable of painting panoramas than character studies. Murder-mysteries weren't his forte, and it could be seen in this novel: it was far too wordy, and relied upon the honesty of people who were suspected for the murders. In that sense, it was a bit too straightforward, although because of the incomplete information, it was still unpredictable.

Nevertheless, his exposition of the characters and the gradual unwinding of the plot was a bit reminiscent of a poor man's Faulkner. At times, however, he would go on paroxysms of description that didn't really contribute much to the plot. The novel was an entertaining read despite that because of his ability to paint scenes.

It's not among the best detective stories I've read as it's more of a study of characters than a true whodunit, but I appreciated the way Yerby resolved this novel. It's not one of his best works, but I like it anyway.

[isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cogí este libro que tenía en miestanteria porque me aburría y no sabia cual coger, y he de decir que me ha sorprendido bastante. Una vez que me metí en la historia no pude parar de dejar de leer el libro. sigo sin entender a Gillian y sus dos personalidades, me ha rallado bastante la personalidad de la chica. No me esperaba ese final, realmente creia que el asesino iba a ser otro y me ha fastidiado que sea un poco mierdoño ese final.

[Haytham Mohamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you didn't read the opening pages and knew this taking place in the late 1800 and early 1900, you would think it's a modern Gen-Z story!
Lovely plot and and build up, and the depth Yerby took to build his characters, especially the female leads, are enriching.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yerby wrote a murder mystery! an actual whodunit. It’s done with the detective’s interviews taken verbatim or as notes in his journal. These seem to be much more wordy than realistic, but let’s not let that get in the way of a fun story with interesting characters and, what really makes Yerby’s novels so enjoyable for me, great social history. This time it’s Birmingham, Alabama at the turn of the Twentieth Century, and, if the reader begins the tale with no knowledge of steel making, he’s going to be wealth of information coming out.

[Carolina Morales · Rating 3 out of 5]

(complete review asap)