This book was first published as The Progress of Julius in 1933. It’s the story of Julius Levy who was born in France, the product of a mixed marriage between a French Christian woman and an Algerian Jewish man. Life hasn’t been easy for Julius and his parents and after a traumatic incident Julius and his father have to travel to Algeria to escape the French police.

The young Julius takes after his maternal side of the family business wise anyway and ambition rules his life. He’s determined to make money and when he does get money he holds on to it, never using it to make life easier for himself. Every pound a prisoner – as we say!

Eventually he makes his way to London and starts building his business empire and it became a very big one.

I did enjoy this book, which is surprising really as Julius isn’t a very likeable character, in fact I think nowadays he would be described as having some kind of mental problem like autism or Asperger’s.

Although Julius was written in 1932, a time when things were just beginning to get fairly scary for the Jews of mainland Europe and let’s face it there were people in Britain too who were anti-semitic, there’s really nothing to upset anyone of tender feelings.

I kept thinking of Lyons Corner Houses all the time I was reading about Julius’ empire building because it reminded me so much of that tea-room restaurant chain which became a British institution. The first one was opened in 1894 and the last closed in 1981. I wonder if du Maurier used them as inspiration for Julius. They were a family run Jewish business, in fact Nigella Lawson is related to them.

Julius was Daphne du Maurier’s third book to be published, she was 26 years old when she wrote it.