Nobel-prize winner Fran???ois Mauriac's masterpiece is Th???r???se Desqueyroux, the story of a complex woman trapped by provincial life. First published in 1927, this astonishing and daring novel has echoes of Madame Bovary and has recently been made into a ravishing film starring Am???lie actress Audrey Tautou. Th???r???se Desqueyroux walks free from court, acquitted of trying to poison her husband. Everyone knew she'd tried to do it, but family honour was more important than the truth. As she travels home to the gloomy ...
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Nobel-prize winner Fran???ois Mauriac's masterpiece is Th???r???se Desqueyroux, the story of a complex woman trapped by provincial life. First published in 1927, this astonishing and daring novel has echoes of Madame Bovary and has recently been made into a ravishing film starring Am???lie actress Audrey Tautou. Th???r???se Desqueyroux walks free from court, acquitted of trying to poison her husband. Everyone knew she'd tried to do it, but family honour was more important than the truth. As she travels home to the gloomy forests of Argelouse, Th???r???se looks back over the marriage that brought her nothing but stifling darkness, and wonders, has she really escaped punishment or is it only just about to begin? Fran???ois Mauriac was born in Bordeaux in 1885. He left his university studies to devote himself to writing, and published a collection of poems, Les Mains jointes (Clasped Hands), in 1909. He married in 1913 and the following year was mobilized to serve in the First World War with the Auxilliary Medical Squad in Thessalonica. Mauriac's major literary breakthrough came in 1922 with a novel called Le Baiser au lepreux (A Kiss for the Leper). His most famous work, Th???r???se Desqueroux, appeared in 1927 and has been made into a film twice: first in 1962, with Emmanuelle Riva in the lead role, and more recently in 2012, in a version starring Audrey Tautou. In 1933 Mauriac was elected a Member of the French Academy and in 1952 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in Paris in 1970. 'A great novel ... the brilliance of its structure and the elegance of its prose never fail to take my breath away' - Beryl Bainbridge
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Add this copy of Therese Desqueyroux* to cart. $2.95, good condition, Sold by Project HOME rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Philadelphia, PA, UNITED STATES, published by Dessain et Tolra.
A beautifully written book, as relevant today as it was in the 1930's when it was first published in France. However, today we would attribute the actions of the chief protagonist, Therese, to acute psychiatric problems, rather than a discontent with her stifling bourgeoise life. Following the birth of her daughter, Marie, the young married woman, Therese Desqueyroux, attempts to poison her husband. She is completely disinterested in her baby and views her life, husband and extended family through a post-partum cloud of depression. Mauriac, as all novelists of genius do, has captured a human condition without knowing the modern name for it. His portrayal is accurate, drawing, as it does, precipitating factors, character and location into the whole picture. Prior to her marriage, Therese, was a girl of intense emotions. She was very attracted to a young female friend, then became enamoured of her future husband, and then, on her wedding day, she experiences a reversal of emotions. As a result of her actions, Therese is condemned to an exile from her family and home. Initially, she is elated by her freedom in Paris. In the course of the following years, however, she leads a futile, enervating existence, and comes to despair of her existence. Mauriac also paints a picture of the properous middle class of France in the 1930's which has often been a mystery to readers of contemporary fiction. The narrow, isolationist ideals of some remote areas, where family loyalty reigns supreme is well depicted. This is a timeless novel. Therese is a fascinating creature with whom it is easy to emphasize, in spite of her all to visible flaws.