The Brothers Rico (Simenon novel)
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Les Frères Rico (1952, The Brothers Rico) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon.
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Summary
There are three Rico brothers: Eddie, the eldest, Gino and Tony. All three are part of an "organisation". Nobody knows about it except their mother, who lives in Brooklyn, where they were born. Eddie Rico, a good husband and father, a well-off businessman who lives in a pretty villa by the sea, hides behind his bourgeois exterior a less honourable activity: he 'taxes' gambling, slot machines and other gambling games in his region, in return for which their owners are guaranteed not to be bothered by the police. Rico knows only his two immediate bosses, from whom he receives his instructions. Anyone who breaks orders or speaks out against the "organisation" is suppressed, and Eddie's own brother Gino is one of the hired killers. Tony, the youngest, is a car driver on the expeditions.
There's been no news of Tony for three months, but Mother Rico has learned that he has married. Then Gino turns up and tells Eddie that Tony was involved in the last murder case handled by the District Attorney. It would be better for him to go to Mexico, South America, anywhere; otherwise he risks being questioned by the police, and this must be avoided at all costs.
Summoned to Miami, Eddie receives details about Tony from his two bosses: he has just married Nora Malaks, whose brother has revealed to the police that his sister is the wife of a gangster. Tony has told Nora everything and wants to leave the "organisation".
So Eddie has to find his younger brother and advise him to flee. Eddie is all the more suspicious because the words of his two bosses are consistent with what Gino has told him. When, after a series of twists and turns, Eddie is reunited with Tony, the latter is not fooled: his brother has been used to track him down, because Eddie has been shadowed without his knowledge.
Back at his hotel, the eldest of the Rico brothers is confronted by Mike, one of his "superiors" whom he doesn't know, who tells him to phone Tony to let him know that they're waiting for him on the road. There is a guarantee that Nora, who is pregnant, will be spared.
Eddie understands and has to comply. No, he'll never be asked to do anything more difficult. He's worked so hard to get here... He returns to Miami at which point the novel stops.
Special aspects of the novel
An unusual theme for Simenon: this is a hard-boiled novel about the American Mafia, whose secret workings operate with ruthless efficiency.
Details of the work
Space and time
Space
Santa Clara. Miami (Florida). Brooklyn (New York).
Time
Contemporary era.
Characters
Main character
Joseph Rico, known as Eddie, an American of Sicilian origin. Fruit wholesaler. Married, three children, aged 12 to 3. Age 38.
Other characters
- Gino Rico, Eddie's second brother, single, aged 36.
- Tony Rico, Eddie's younger brother, recently married, aged 33.
- Nora Malaks, Tony's wife, aged 22.
- Sid Kubik and Phil Boston, the two members of Eddie's organisation.
Adaptations
On the big screen
- 1957: The Rico Brothers (The Brothers Rico), American film directed by Phil Karlson, starring Richard Conte (Eddie Rico), Dianne Foster (Alice, his wife), James Darren (Johnny Rico), Paul Picerni (Gino Rico), Kathryn Grant (Norah, Johnny's wife), Lamont Johnson (Peter Malaks) and Larry Gates (Sid Kubick)
On television
- 1972: The Family Rico, American television film directed by Paul Wendkos, starring Ben Gazzara (Eddie Rico), Jack Carter (McGee), Dane Clark (Boston Phil) and John Randolph (Malaks)
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. 168-169
Article connexe
Liste des œuvres de Georges Simenon
