"Captivated is a true story of genius and possession at a crossroads in time, when the late nineteenth-century world of the occult and the psychic arts gave way to the new science of psychology." "The central characters are J.M. Barrie, a man tormented by inner demons since childhood; George du Maurier, the creator of Svengali, who showed how it is possible by means of hypnosis for one person to gain control over the mind of another; and Daphne du Maurier, George's enigmatic granddaughter, author of Rebecca and secret chronicler of her family's story." "This book delves deep, makes links and yields up secrets. It tells how Barrie brought his victims to nervous breakdown, early death and suicide, and how three writers formed an image of their dark side - in Svengali, Peter Pan and Rebecca - and how these images cleaved to reality and took control."--Jacket.