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Maigret's past comes to life in this vivid new translation of this evocative novel, set in the Inspector's home town. Book thirteen in the new Penguin Maigret series. Maigret savoured the sensations of his youth again: the cold, stinging eyes, frozen fingertips, an aftertaste of coffee. Then, stepping inside the church, a blast of heat, soft light; the smell of candles and incense. The last time Maigret went home to the village of his birth was for his father's funeral. Now an anonymous note predicting a crime during All Souls' Day mass draws him back there, where troubling memories resurface and hidden vices are revealed. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret Goes Home . 'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent
About the author
Georges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium in 1903. An intrepid traveller with a profound interest in people, Simenon strove on and off the page to understand, rather than to judge, the human condition in all its shades. His novels include the Inspector Maigret series and a richly varied body of wider work united by its evocative power, its economy of means, and its penetrating psychological insight. He is among the most widely read writers in the global canon. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.
Summary
“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré
Maigret’s past comes to life in this evocative novel, set in the Inspector’s hometown
“Maigret savoured the sensations of his youth again: the cold, stinging eyes, frozen fingertips, an aftertaste of coffee. Then, stepping inside the church, a blast of heat, soft light; the smell of candles and incense.”
The last time Maigret went home to the village of his birth was for his father’s funeral. Now, an anonymous note predicting a crime during All Souls’ Day mass draws him back there, where troubling memories resurface and hidden vices are revealed.
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Praise for Georges Simenon:
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. The Guardian
These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself. The Washington Post
Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals. People
I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov. William Faulkner
The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature. André Gide
A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness. The Independent (London)
Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales. The Observer (London)
Compelling, remorseless, brilliant. John Gray
A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates. Muriel Spark
A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it. lle Peter Ackroyd
Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century. John Banville
"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" Times (London)
"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." Margaret Atwood
"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." Financial Times
"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell The Sunday Times (London)
