'Sensuously detailed . . . edgy . . . riveting' Financial Times
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.
'Published, like The Outsider, in 1942, and at least equal to Camus's work in portraying a doomed and alienated life' David Hare
| ISBN: | 9780241634332 |
| Publication date: | 12th February 2026 |
| Author: | Georges Simenon |
| Publisher: | Penguin Classics an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 192 pages |
| Genres: |
Classic fiction: general and literary Crime and mystery: hard-boiled crime, noir fiction Psychological thriller Narrative theme: Interior life Fiction in translation |
'Sensuously detailed . . . edgy . . . riveting' Financial Times
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.
'Published, like The Outsider, in 1942, and at least equal to Camus's work in portraying a doomed and alienated life' David Hare
The Widow Couderc features in the following genres: Classic fiction: general and literary, Crime and mystery: hard-boiled crime, noir fiction, Psychological thriller, Narrative theme: Interior life, Fiction in translation
The Widow Couderc is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Widow Couderc was written by Georges Simenon and published by Penguin Classics an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd
The Widow Couderc has 192 pages