Editing Rosemary's Baby (novel)

{{Short description|1967 horror novel by Ira Levin}}
{{About |the novel by Ira Levin|the 1968 film|Rosemary's Baby (film)|other uses|Rosemary's Baby (disambiguation){{!}}Rosemary's Baby}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox book| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = Rosemary's Baby
| title_orig    =
| translator    =
| image         = Rosemary's Baby (1967) front cover, first edition.jpg
| caption       = Cover of 1967 first edition
| author        = [[Ira Levin]]
| cover_artist  =
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        =
| genre         = [[Horror fiction|Horror]]
| publisher     = [[Random House]]
| release_date  = March 12, 1967
| media_type    = Print ([[hardcover]] and [[paperback]]) and Audio Book
| pages         =
| isbn          =
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   = [[Son of Rosemary]]
}}
'''''Rosemary's Baby''''' is a 1967 [[horror novel]] by American writer [[Ira Levin]]; it was his second published book. It was the best-selling horror novel of the 1960s, selling over four million copies.<ref>Harry Edwin Eiss (editor), ''Images of the Child'', p. 38 (Bowling Green State University Press, 1994). {{ISBN|0-87972-653-9}}</ref> The high popularity of the novel was a catalyst for a "horror boom",{{clarify|date=August 2024}} and horror fiction would achieve enormous commercial success in its wake.<ref>"Levin's frightening little book{{nbsp}}... triggered the whole modern boom in American horror fiction, making possible the success of [[William Peter Blatty]]'s (much inferior) ''[[The Exorcist (novel)|The Exorcist]]'' (1971), the ''[[The Omen (franchise)|Omen/Damien]]'' series of films, and the careers of novelists [[Stephen King]] and [[Peter Straub]], among many others". [[David Pringle]], ''Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels''. London, Grafton, 1988. {{ISBN|0246132140}} (p.103-5)</ref>

==Plot==
The book centers on Rosemary Woodhouse, a young woman who moves into the Bramford, a historic [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival-style]] [[New York City]] apartment building, with her husband, Guy, a struggling actor. Guy has so far appeared only in small roles in the stage plays ''[[Luther (play)|Luther]],'' ''[[Nobody Loves an Albatross]],'' and various TV commercials. A friend warns the pair that the Bramford has a disturbing history involving [[witchcraft]] and murder, but they discount this. Rosemary wants to start a family, but Guy prefers waiting until his career is more established.

{{Anchor|castevet}}Neighbors Minnie and Roman Castevet, an eccentric, elderly couple, welcome Rosemary and Guy to the Bramford. Rosemary finds them meddlesome and annoying, but Guy begins frequently visiting them.

After the lead actor in a new stage play suddenly goes blind, Guy is cast in the role. Immediately afterward, Guy unexpectedly agrees with Rosemary that they should have their first child. That night, Rosemary dreams of a rough sexual encounter with a huge, inhuman creature with yellow eyes. The next morning Rosemary finds claw marks on her breasts and groin, which Guy dismisses as resulting from his [[hangnail]], which he has cut. Rosemary subsequently learns that she is pregnant.

Rosemary falls severely ill; but her intense pain and weight loss are ignored by others and attributed to [[hysteria]]. Her doctor and Minnie feed her strange and foul concoctions. Rosemary also develops a peculiar craving for [[raw meat]].

Guy's performance in the play garners favorable notices, and other increasingly significant roles follow. Guy soon begins talking about a career in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].

Rosemary's friend, Edward "Hutch" Hutchins, also becomes mysteriously ill. He had sent Rosemary a warning, leading to her discovery that Roman Castevet is the leader of a [[Satanism|Satanic]] [[coven]]. She suspects her unborn baby is wanted as a sacrifice to the [[devil]]. Despite her growing conviction, she is unable to convince anyone, particularly Guy. Ultimately, Rosemary discovers the coven's real intent for wanting her baby, whom she names Andrew.

==Critical reception==
[[Cherry Wilder]] wrote that "''Rosemary's Baby'' is one of the most perfectly crafted thrillers ever written".<ref>Cherry Wilder, "Levin, Ira" in [[Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers]] by Curtis C. Smith. St. James Press, 1986; {{ISBN|0-912289-27-9}} (pp. 443-444).</ref>

Horror scholar [[Gary William Crawford|Gary Crawford]] described ''Rosemary's Baby'' as "a genuine masterpiece".<ref>Gary Crawford, "Ira Levin" in [[Jack Sullivan (literary scholar)|Jack Sullivan]] (ed.) (1986) ''[[The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural]]'' Viking Press, 1986; {{ISBN|0-670-80902-0}} (pg. 264).</ref>

[[David Pringle]] described ''Rosemary's Baby'' as "this sly, seductive impeccably-written horror novel ... is an expertly constructed story, a playwright's book, in which every physical detail and line of dialogue counts."<ref>Pringle, 1988. (pp. 103-105)</ref>

==Sequel==
Thirty years later Levin published a sequel to the novel, titled ''[[Son of Rosemary]]'' (1997).<ref>Christopher Bonanos, "No Rest For The Wicked", ''[[New York Magazine]]'', p. 135 (8 September 1997).</ref> Levin dedicated it to [[Mia Farrow]].

==Censorship==
''Rosemary's Baby'' was published in Spanish translation during the [[Francoist Spain|Francoist dictatorship]]. The [[Censorship in Francoist Spain|Francoist censors]] cut passages from this translation, claiming the cut passages "glorified Satan".<ref name="conversion">{{Cite web |url=https://theconversation.com/francos-invisible-legacy-books-across-the-hispanic-world-are-still-scarred-by-his-censorship-115488 |title= Franco's invisible legacy: books across the Hispanic world are still scarred by his censorship |last=Cornellà-Detrell |first=Jordi |date=April 15, 2019 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|access-date=March 13, 2020}}</ref> As of April 2019, all the Spanish-language editions of the book still retain these cuts.<ref name="conversion" />

==Adaptations==
In 1968, the novel was [[Rosemary's Baby (film)|adapted as a film of the same name]], 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 [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium]]. The exterior shots of the fictional Bramford apartment were filmed at [[the Dakota]] on Central Park West in New York.<ref>Fran Capo, ''Myths and Mysteries of New York: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained'', pg. 25 (Morris Book Publishing, 2011); {{ISBN|978-0-7627-6107-4}}</ref>

A [[television film]] sequel to the Polanski film, ''[[Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby]]'', was produced in 1976.

In 2014, the novel was adapted as an [[NBC]] [[Rosemary's Baby (miniseries)|television miniseries]], with [[Zoe Saldaña]] as Rosemary. The two-part miniseries aired on [[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]] of that year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125429/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/04/10/miniseries-rosemarys-baby-to-air-may-11-and-may-15-on-nbc/253064/ Miniseries 'Rosemary's Baby' To Air May 11 and May 15 on NBC]. Accessed September 8, 2022.</ref> Neither the TV sequel nor the TV miniseries garnered critical acclaim.

[[Paramount Players|Paramount]] produced a prequel titled ''[[Apartment 7A]]'', starring [[Julia Garner]] and [[Dianne Wiest]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.iralevin.org/rosemarys-baby-book.html Official entry] at IraLevin.org
*[https://www.rosemarysbabyalbum.com "Rosemary's Baby Album" (in-depth visual feature about novel's creation on Ira Levin's website)]
*[http://www.mansionbooks.com/BookDetail.php?bk=238 Photos of the first edition of ''Rosemary's Baby'']

{{Ira Levin}}
{{Rosemary's Baby}}
[[Category:1967 American novels]]
[[Category:1960s horror novels]]
[[Category:American horror novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in New York City]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1965]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1966]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1960s]]
[[Category:Novels about actors]]
[[Category:Novels about cults]]
[[Category:Novels about demons]]
[[Category:Novels about human pregnancy]]
[[Category:Novels about marriage]]
[[Category:Novels about Satanism]]
[[Category:Novels about witches and witchcraft]]
[[Category:Novels about the Antichrist]]
[[Category:Fiction about the Devil]]
[[Category:Religious controversies in literature]]
[[Category:Censored books]]
[[Category:Censorship in Spain]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Horror novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Books with cover art by Paul Bacon]]
[[Category:Novels by Ira Levin]]
[[Category:Rosemary's Baby (franchise)]]
[[Category:Random House books]]