The Pitards
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Published:7th Mar '19
£8.99
Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.
A superb new translation by David Bellos of Simenon's haunting, rediscovered masterpiece.
'Read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss' Sunday Times
Captain Lannec has finally managed to buy his own ship with the financial help of his in-laws, the Pitards - and they've never let him forget it. When his temperamental wife Mathilde insists on coming along on the ship's first voyage, Lannec becomes increasingly unnerved by her presence, especially when he receives an anonymous note saying he won't make it back to port. As they hit a storm in the Atlantic, jealousy, spite, snobbery and suspicion are churned up in the boat's stiflingly close quarters...
First published in 1935, The Pitards was one of the first novels Simenon wrote when he shelved his famous Maigret series in order to strike out in a new direction and make a name for himself as a literary writer. This gripping evocation of life at sea revolves around class and the tense unravelling of relationships, powerful themes that Simenon would return to throughout his writing career.
One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century...Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by the brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories. * Guardian *
Fierce, bleak and compellingly written . . . with pitiless landscapes of hopeless longing, random cruelty and galloping fate warmed only by the twilit lyricism of doomed desire. These are novels of eye-opening, spine-tingling control and intensity. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Independent *
The romans durs are extraordinary: tough, bleak, offhandedly violent, suffused with guilt and bitterness, redolent of place . . . utterly unsentimental, frightening in the pitilessness of their gaze, yet wonderfully entertaining. -- John Banville
A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness. * Independent *
One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories * Guardian *
Fierce, bleak and compellingly written . . . with pitiless landscapes of hopeless longing, random cruelty and galloping fate warmed only by the twilit lyricism of doomed desire. These are novels of eye-opening, spine-tingling control and intensity. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Independent *
The romans durs are extraordinary: tough, bleak, offhandedly violent, suffused with guilt and bitterness, redolent of place . . . utterly unsentimental, frightening in the pitilessness of their gaze, yet wonderfully entertaining * John Banville *
A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness * Independent *
ISBN: 9780241325476
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 8mm
Weight: 112g
144 pages