George du Maurier (1834–1896)

It is a mixed bag. There is the antisemitism. The characters switch to untranslated French in parts. Some parts are enjoyable, some parts are boring.
It is funny how the main character Trilby is not widely known today. Svengali is the one who is well know. Svengali is only a small part until we get near the end. But he is the one who has captured popular culture.

This was Jean's book. Roger gave it to me. I opened it to page 383 and read ..."You have no idea how difficult it has been for me to come back, even for a few short hours, for I can't hold very long." I was comforted. It felt as if Jean reached out to me when I needed comforting after her death.

Le film d'Hathaway réalisé en1935 emporta l'admiration des surréalistes et conduisit à la traduction du roman qui était sorti en 1891 et à sa publication par Gallimard dans une traduction de Raymond Queneau en 1946.
Dans la manière de XIXe, l'introduction est signée par un personnage du roman qui a recueilli les mémoires de son cousin. Ce qui ajoute à l'aspect fantastique du texte, le récit d'un amour fou.

I liked this novel much more before a friend told me that it's extremely not feminist. While yes, the main character is an independent young woman, she ends up in the clutches of the manipulator Svengali (inspiration for Son of Svengooli) because, to the author's mind, she shouldn't have been independent and free because she's a woman. Cooties. The author was also an enemy of Oscar Wilde.