Two strangers meet on a bus along a dusty road in rural France. Tati is a tough,work-worn widow,who runs the farm her late husband left behind,while trying to keep out of the way of her predatory in-laws. Jean is an odd,quiet man,recently out of prison,with nowhere to go.
These lost souls recognize something in each other,and Jean becomes Tati's lodger and farm worker. In the still and heat of the summer,they labour together and,inevitably,begin to sleep together. Soon,however,their strange affair will become something altogether darker.
First published in 1942 at the same time as Albert Camus'The Outsider,this is Simenon's existentialist masterpiece,exploring the dangerous mystery of who we are and what we desire.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780241534731Number of pages: 192Weight: 220 gDimensions: 184 x 114 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Sensuously detailed... edgy... this is incrementally more and more riveting,as the joyless sex between the two central characters leads to a grim conclusion... a nonpareil new translation'- Barry Forshaw,Financial Times
'When I discovered that the author of the Maigret series was also the author of stand-alone novels,my expectations of the genre changed and expanded. These books belonged more alongside Camus and Sartre than Arthur Conan Doyle... try The Widow,published,like The Outsider,in 1942,and at least equal to Camus's work in portraying a doomed and alienated life'- David Hare,Guardian
'Dark,disturbing... Simenon discovered something fundamental about the soul'- Guardian
'Direct,spare,sensously atmospheric,hypnotic in its realism,and honest in a way that few novelists would dare to be'- John Banville
'To me,Simenon is as good as Camus'- Hanif Kureishi,Guardian
'Irresistible... read him at your peril,avoid him at your loss'- The Sunday Times
Georges Simenon
Staggeringly prolific and stylistically revolutionary,French author Georges Simenon is the creator of Inspector Maigret and one of the most significant crime writers in literary history.
Visit the Georges Simenon author page
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