The Widower (Simenon novel)
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Le Veuf (1959, English: The Widower) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon, the story of an unattractive man who marries a prostitute who subsequently disappears and who is found dead in a posh hotel room where she has been living a double life.
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Summary
Bernard Jeantet, worried when not finding his wife when he returns to his modest apartment at Porte Saint-Denis in the evening, learns from the police, after two days of waiting, that she has poisoned herself with gardenal in a room of a luxurious hotel. The staging with which she surrounded herself - white dress, flowers, champagne - makes her death all the more disturbing and we learn that Jacques Beaudoin, the friend who came every week to join her in this hotel is, at the time of the tragedy, away from Paris for his business.
Jeantet is convinced that before killing herself, his wife must have left a suicide letter. This letter, which he demands in vain from the inspectors in charge of the investigation as well as from the staff of the furnished apartment, would undoubtedly explain to him the motive of an act that he tries to understand. Wasn't Jeanne Moussu happy since he had married her after having taken her in, eight years earlier, and saved her, when she was a 'working girl', from the revenge of a pimp?
Settled in his widowhood, Jeantet reminisces on the time spent in Jeanne's company: the difficulties of their physical contact and his initial impotence, the mediocrity of an existence made of monotony and apparent tranquility. There are no other witnesses than an old lady who lives on the upper floor with Pierre, a 10-year-old boy she is raising. But the more and more precise insinuations of this Mme Couvert ("Jeanne was not even trying to be happy"), and then the revelation that Pierre is the son Jeanne dared not confess to Jeantet, make him understand that his goodwill was taken only for softness and indulgence. A final meeting with Mr. Jacques Beaudoin will make him feel with harshness that it is henceforth unnecessary to look for Jeanne's mysterious letter. On the final page, the wife of Inspector Sauvegrain does find by chance the letter while emptying the pockets of the cleaned pants of her husband. The words have been erased during cleaning.
Particular aspects of the novel
The story goes on for a long time about Jeanne's disappearance and the ensuing investigation, before giving way to the underground work that is being done by Jeantet, who gradually discovers an unsuspected truth. Some flashbacks evoke the beginnings of the couple's life.
Work description
Space and time
Space
Paris (mainly boulevard Saint-Denis and rue de Berri).
Time
Contemporary era.
Characters
Main character
Bernard Jeantet. Draftsman-typesetter working for various periodicals. Widower of Jeanne Moussu. 40 years old.
Other characters
- Jeanne Moussu, wife of Bernard Jeantet, 28 years old
- Mlle Couvert, 65 years old, seamstress
- Pierre, 10 years old, natural son of Jeanne Moussu.
Adaptations
Source
- Maurice Piron, Michel Lemoine, L'Univers de Simenon, guide des romans et nouvelles (1931-1972) de Georges Simenon, Presses de la Cité, 1983, p. 206-207
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