Rosemary's Baby is a
1967 best-selling
horror
novel by
Ira Levin,
his second published book. Major elements of the story were
inspired by the publicity surrounding the
Church of Satan of
Anton LaVey which had been founded in
1966.
Plot summary
The book
centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young woman who has just moved
into the Bramford, an old Gothic
style New York
City
apartment building with her husband Guy, a
struggling actor. The pair are warned that the Bramford has
a disturbing history involving witchcraft and murder, but they
choose to overlook this. Rosemary has wanted children for some
time, but Guy wants to wait until he is more established. Rosemary
and Guy are quickly welcomed by Minnie and Roman Castevet, an
eccentric elderly couple whose apartment is attached to their own
through a closet door. Rosemary finds them meddlesome and absurd,
but Guy begins paying them frequent visits.
After a theatrical rival suddenly goes blind, Guy is given an
important part in a stage play. Immediately following this event,
Guy unexpectedly agrees with Rosemary that it is time to conceive
their first child. Guy is noticed and cast in other, increasingly
important roles, and he begins to talk about a career in
Hollywood.
After receiving a warning from a friend, who also becomes
mysteriously ill, Rosemary investigates and confirms that her
neighbors are the leaders of a
coven of
witches, and she suspects they are after her
child to use it as a sacrifice to the Devil. However, she is unable
to convince anyone else to believe or help her and soon becomes
certain that there is no one actually on her side, even her own
husband. She is wrong about the coven's reason for wanting the
baby, but the truth is even more horrific than she imagined.
Adaptation
In 1968, the novel was turned into an acclaimed
film adaptation starring
Mia Farrow, with
John
Cassavetes as Guy.
Ruth Gordon, who
played Minnie Castevet, won an
Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress.
Roman
Polanski, who wrote and directed the film, was nominated for
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another
Medium.
The movie
was filmed partially on location at The Dakota
, off Central Park West in New York
City.
Sequel
Levin published a sequel to the novel, titled
Son of Rosemary in 1997. Levin
dedicated it to
Mia Farrow. The TV movie,
Look What's
Happened to Rosemary's Baby was made in 1976, but was not
connected to the novel.
Editions
References
External links
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