Langues
Penguin Books Uk
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Hector Loursat, a lawyer in the small town of Moulins, has lived as a drunken recluse since his wife left him eighteen years previously. Unmoored from society and estranged from his daughter, he shuts himself away, numbed by endless bottles of burgundy. But when a dead man is found in his house one night, the resulting police investigation unearths secrets that shake the town - and Loursat''s isolation - to the core. No longer able to ignore the world, he emerges to take on the murder case himself and confront the lives of Moulins'' by-ways and back streets.br>br>In the progressive break-down of Loursat''s self-imposed isolation, Simenon brilliantly depicts the psychology of loneliness and a man''s tortured re-engagement with humanity and its darkest acts.>
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An ageing boxer caught in a love triangle. A wealthy Parisian family on the brink of collapse. A mysterious murder in a hotel in Cannes.These tales of human frailty and deceit - three of which are being published in English for the first time - distil the atmosphere, themes and psychological intensity that make Simenon''s famous detective series so compelling. br>Written during the Second World War, just a few years after Simenon had published what was intended to be his last novel featuring Inspector Maigret, these stories encapsulate Simenon''s storytelling genius and economy of style.Translated by Ros Schwartz''Not just the world''s bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor'' Boyd Tonkin, Times>
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There were some weeks that were painful, nerve-racking. At the office or at home, in the middle of a meal, he would suddenly find his forehead bathed in sweat, a tightness in his chest, and at those times, feeling everyone''s eyes on him was unbearable.''br>br>When an unusually inquisitive stranger strikes up conversation with Justin Calmar on the train home from a family holiday, his sun-drenched memories are overshadowed by an event that will change his life forever. As he travels alone through northern Italy and Switzerland, his carefully constructed life as an upright citizen begins to unravel, revealing secret motivations and hidden impulses that threaten to overwhelm him.br>br>Originally published in 1965, shortly after Simenon moved into the spacious new home he had built in Epalinges, Switzerland, this chilling novel is a powerful exploration of the fragility of the human psyche.>
