What do you think?
Rate this book
Toys in the Attic
Two sisters living together in a small southern town dream of touring Europe one day but their plans are continually thwarted by the need to bail their ne'er-do-well brother out of a series of misfortunes. They are surprised then, and even oddly distressed, when the brother suddenly turns up with a large sum of money, enough to pay off the mortgage on the family homestead and to send his sisters on their grand tour. As it happens, however, the brother's good fortune stems from a plot devised by the spiteful wife of a local millionaire, and when the brother's wife discovers this, and jealously tells all, the scheme is shattered and the brother savagely beaten. In the end the sisters regain the dependence of their brother but at a price far greater than they would have willingly chosen to pay.
116 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1959
5 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Lillian Hellman
78 books206 followersLillian Florence "Lilly" Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American dramatist and screenwriter famously blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) at the height of the anti-communist campaigns of 1947–52.
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
Hellman was praised for sacrificing her career by refusing to answer questions by HUAC; but her denial that she had ever belonged to the Communist Party was easily disproved, and her veracity was doubted by many, including war correspondent Martha Gellhorn and literary critic Mary McCarthy.
She adapted her semi-autobiographical play The Little Foxes into a screenplay which received an Academy Award nomination in 1942.
Hellman was romantically involved with fellow writer and political activist Dashiell Hammett for thirty years until his death.
(from Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 4, 2025
disturbing, but incredible nevertheless
May 30, 2018
Lillian Hellman's semi-autobiographical play, set in her hometown of New Orleans, reveals the raw and true nature of intimate relationships when they begin to unravel. Despite some outdated dialogue, I believe the right production team could offer this play with a fresh, contemporary performance as the themes are timeless.
July 16, 2016
What a messed up, nasty little play. I think most of the characters are insane, to some degree or another.
September 21, 2018
Disturbing. Also wonderful to have 3 roles for middle-aged women and two roles for middle-aged black men. Wish it was produced more.
February 16, 2020
Every now and then I want to read a play. I was home alone for a while today - perfect time for a play! If I want to read a line out loud now and then - hear how it sounds - no one to give me a funny look or say, 'WHO are you talking to?" :D
I came across 'Toys in the Attic' while reading background on Lillian Hellman. I'd caught part of the movie, 'The Little Foxes,' got mesmerized by Bette Davis in one of the leads, did some research and started reading about the author, Ms. Hellman. A brief description of this play, 'Toys...' caught my attention and tada! Funny how one finds a book - or play - to read.
Now to the play, first off I will admit I was LOST! Totally LOST at first! Act One, it's about two middle-aged women, working class, Depression era, living down south. Actually, one is late thirties, the other early forties, so I guess it is middle age, but omg, you'd think they were ready to die. They talk about - nothing much. They mope about the house a bit, and use references and language that either was deadly dull or I just didn't get what it was all about. They live in a house they hate and want to sell, and talk endlessly about going to Europe. Anna, the older, and Carrie, the younger, also have a brother, Julian, newly-married, who they just 'dote upon.' Always helping him out when he loses a bundle at poker, and so on. Julian's also got a very weird, but upper-crust and filthy-rich mother-in-law who seems awfully fond of her chauffeur. As for his new wife, she's barely there, like a ghost, just sort of flitting in and out of scenes.
Act Two, doesn't get much better with Julian telling the sisters he's suddenly struck it rich, they can all go to Europe and get a new refrigerator and lots of new clothes, and...
If I write too much more it jumps into spoiler territory, but basically, I was sort of yawning through this one until Act Three when everything and everyone hangs loose, telling each other what they really think, and revealing secrets that they should not speak. As for Julian's vague and strange wife - a lot of the story hinges on her and what she does when...
Well, the audiences of 1963, when the play became well-known, were probably mesmerized by all of this. Things not said and done - too often - right up there on the stage! My word! (We must tell Cousin Martha about this - but don't mention a word of it to Auntie Ruth!) Well I just made that up, but I can well imagine the 'grown-ups' of the time being both repulsed and titillated by what they were seeing. The play later became a movie, with Dean Martin, and I need to look it up. But what started out as a dry, dull and somewhat incomprehensible read became much more interesting by play's end.
Four stars.
I came across 'Toys in the Attic' while reading background on Lillian Hellman. I'd caught part of the movie, 'The Little Foxes,' got mesmerized by Bette Davis in one of the leads, did some research and started reading about the author, Ms. Hellman. A brief description of this play, 'Toys...' caught my attention and tada! Funny how one finds a book - or play - to read.
Now to the play, first off I will admit I was LOST! Totally LOST at first! Act One, it's about two middle-aged women, working class, Depression era, living down south. Actually, one is late thirties, the other early forties, so I guess it is middle age, but omg, you'd think they were ready to die. They talk about - nothing much. They mope about the house a bit, and use references and language that either was deadly dull or I just didn't get what it was all about. They live in a house they hate and want to sell, and talk endlessly about going to Europe. Anna, the older, and Carrie, the younger, also have a brother, Julian, newly-married, who they just 'dote upon.' Always helping him out when he loses a bundle at poker, and so on. Julian's also got a very weird, but upper-crust and filthy-rich mother-in-law who seems awfully fond of her chauffeur. As for his new wife, she's barely there, like a ghost, just sort of flitting in and out of scenes.
Act Two, doesn't get much better with Julian telling the sisters he's suddenly struck it rich, they can all go to Europe and get a new refrigerator and lots of new clothes, and...
If I write too much more it jumps into spoiler territory, but basically, I was sort of yawning through this one until Act Three when everything and everyone hangs loose, telling each other what they really think, and revealing secrets that they should not speak. As for Julian's vague and strange wife - a lot of the story hinges on her and what she does when...
Well, the audiences of 1963, when the play became well-known, were probably mesmerized by all of this. Things not said and done - too often - right up there on the stage! My word! (We must tell Cousin Martha about this - but don't mention a word of it to Auntie Ruth!) Well I just made that up, but I can well imagine the 'grown-ups' of the time being both repulsed and titillated by what they were seeing. The play later became a movie, with Dean Martin, and I need to look it up. But what started out as a dry, dull and somewhat incomprehensible read became much more interesting by play's end.
Four stars.
September 16, 2018
I wasn't really thrilled with this play and I think it's flatness on paper can only be fixed by really good acting. I had heard this was inspired by Chekhov and initially it definitely echoes Three Sisters - with the sisters talking about a trip to Europe that never happens. But the play is spoiled by extremely unlikable characters with virtually no redeeming qualities so it was hard to root for anyone, and on top of that everyone acts pretty crazy. The main plot itself isn't terribly clear and over the course of three acts I didn't think it developed well enough or resolved in a satisfying way. The brother by the end has basically ruined his sister's lives and the only cathartic thing is that he gets the tar beat out of him, but that's really it.
December 5, 2022
What's interesting about Lillian Hellman's 1960 drama Toys in the Attic is the way it evokes both of her most famous plays. Like The Little Foxes, it's a pretty savage indictment of American capitalism: specifically, it shows how money leads people to do desperate and sometimes terrible things, whether they have too much or too little of it. And like The Children's Hour, this play trades in innuendo and sensationalism to make its points, featuring a relatively unapologetic interracial couple (in the American South before the Civil Rights movement!) and an outright accusation of incestuous lust. I would not call this a great play, but it has some intriguing ideas in it.
The story of Toys in the Attic concerns the Berniers family, which consists of self-described old maid sisters Anna and Carrie, who live modestly and forlornly in the house left them by their parents, and their younger ne'er-do-well brother, Julian, on whom the two, each in her own way, dote. A year before the action of the play begins, Julian married a rich, hysterical young woman named Lily and moved away to run a shoe factory in Chicago. In Act One, Lily's mother, Mrs. Albertine Prine, surprises Anna and Carrie by paying them a visit, during which she informs them that Julian and Lily are back home in New Orleans. All three--Albertine, Anna, and Carrie--assume that Julian has gone through all his money (again); Carrie goads Anna into making a present of all their savings to Julian while Albertine has a $5,000 check at the ready for Lily.
But Julian turns up, moments later, loaded down with packages. He's struck it rich, he says, and though he's very mysterious about the source of his windfall, he's ebullient as he hands out extravagant presents to the women in his life. For his sisters, he's bought evening gowns and fur pieces and tickets for a trip to Europe; to Lily he gives a big diamond ring to replace the cheap wedding band he bought her a year ago. Trouble is, none of the women seems to want what Julian has for them. The remainder of the play explores why that's so.
One of the story arcs concerns a triangle whose points are Julian, Lily, and Carrie. Each of these two women wants control over Julian, and a wealthy, self-supporting Julian never figured into either of their plans. I found this thread less interesting, though, than the other main plot line, which contrasts a woman who has lots of money but has nothing to do with it (Mrs. Prine) with a woman who has very little money but lots of secret plans for how she'd spend it if she had it (Anna). Neither has had much success in relationships with others, but the rich Mrs. Prine nonetheless seems relatively happy with the security and power that her wealth enables, which, I think, is one of Hellman's major points.
The story of Toys in the Attic concerns the Berniers family, which consists of self-described old maid sisters Anna and Carrie, who live modestly and forlornly in the house left them by their parents, and their younger ne'er-do-well brother, Julian, on whom the two, each in her own way, dote. A year before the action of the play begins, Julian married a rich, hysterical young woman named Lily and moved away to run a shoe factory in Chicago. In Act One, Lily's mother, Mrs. Albertine Prine, surprises Anna and Carrie by paying them a visit, during which she informs them that Julian and Lily are back home in New Orleans. All three--Albertine, Anna, and Carrie--assume that Julian has gone through all his money (again); Carrie goads Anna into making a present of all their savings to Julian while Albertine has a $5,000 check at the ready for Lily.
But Julian turns up, moments later, loaded down with packages. He's struck it rich, he says, and though he's very mysterious about the source of his windfall, he's ebullient as he hands out extravagant presents to the women in his life. For his sisters, he's bought evening gowns and fur pieces and tickets for a trip to Europe; to Lily he gives a big diamond ring to replace the cheap wedding band he bought her a year ago. Trouble is, none of the women seems to want what Julian has for them. The remainder of the play explores why that's so.
One of the story arcs concerns a triangle whose points are Julian, Lily, and Carrie. Each of these two women wants control over Julian, and a wealthy, self-supporting Julian never figured into either of their plans. I found this thread less interesting, though, than the other main plot line, which contrasts a woman who has lots of money but has nothing to do with it (Mrs. Prine) with a woman who has very little money but lots of secret plans for how she'd spend it if she had it (Anna). Neither has had much success in relationships with others, but the rich Mrs. Prine nonetheless seems relatively happy with the security and power that her wealth enables, which, I think, is one of Hellman's major points.
June 25, 2023
Another play from the end of the nineteen fifties, this is very "fiftyish" with much domestic angst. (The sixties had their own variety of angst which was rather different.) It deals with a poor family whose inner conflicts come to the fore when the ne'er-do-well brother shows up rich.
April 26, 2025
The first two acts were BOOMING like super tense and so good and the third act was also good but the end was so anticipated and then kinda fell. Love Lillian Hellman this was like pure suffering and uncomfortable in a play.
August 24, 2017
Was intriguing but odd.
September 6, 2021
High melodrama with spinster sisters, a ne’er do well brother and his child bride in New Orleans.
Lots of drama.
Lots of drama.
October 2, 2021
this is insanity at its peak
December 29, 2023
This is, quite literally, a little crazy. I enjoyed the suspense of the story, however mild it was. I suspect seeing a live production would make this come alive more than it is as written.
November 4, 2011
Hellman is amazing.
May 5, 2017
Arsenic and Old Lace + A Streetcar Named Desire, with a splash of Flowers in the Attic. More fun than The Little Foxes.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews