Sunday (Simenon novel)
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Sunday (1959, Dimanche) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon. It is the story of a man who marries the daughter of a hotel-restaurant owner, comes to realise that his wife is the boss, starts an affair and tries to poison his wife.
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Plot
At the age of 25, Émile, the son of an hotelier near Luçon, goes to help friends of his family, the Harnauds, who took over « La Bastide », a small inn on the Côte d'Azur. The business does not go very well, Mr. Harnaud dies, and his widow, desirous of returning to Luçon, welcomes more than favorably the union of her daughter Berthe with Emile. The latter, intelligent and courageous, makes "La Bastide" his personal, prosperous affair.
Ms. Harnaud, who had planned this wedding, does not fail to take advantage of it in the form of a life annuity guaranteed by a mortgage: thus, the young couple will have definitely put aside the mother-in-law, who still comes to spend a month each year with her daughter.
Very attached to “La Bastide”, Émile soon realizes that Berthe is the real boss, whom nothing escapes. He gets on with it as best he can: his van, his punt - a small boat that he bought - bowling, the Forville market are his opportunities to escape a possessive wife, suspicious, charmless and, moreover, not much liked by the locals. After a brief affair with one of the inn's residents, Émile breaks away from his wife.
It is then that Ada arrives, a young Italian from the region whom Berthe has hired as a maid for all work. Ada is a very withdrawn wild girl who is considered to be backward. One day, however, Émile takes her by surprise, in her sleep, without her offering any resistance, and what was at first only a fortuitous event becomes a habit that is regularly renewed in the shed that Emile has reserved for himself to take a nap. Berthe ends up catching them, demands that Ada be dismissed on the spot, but is met with an energetic refusal from her husband. The two spouses then agree to keep the appearances of a communal life out of common interest. But the break, still sharpened by Berthe's resentment, awakenes in Emile the idea of freeing himself entirely from the one who has become an enemy and who prevents him from rebuilding his life with Ada, whom he can no longer do without. "I will kill her ..."
An intoxication caused by canned cassoulet that Berthe ate on a busy Sunday gives Émile a glimpse of the solution he was looking for. Did not doctor Chouard, who treated Berthe, reveal that she has a very sensitive liver?. Would not a poisoning be fatal to her? When the season is over, Émile documents himself in toxicology and legal medicine books, performs experiments and doses the arsenic powder which will be mixed with Berthe's risotto. How could the latter suspect? The meticulous, secret preparations lasted nearly eleven months. Finally, the auspicious day arrives. It's a Sunday in May. The scenario is going as planned. The clientele is numerous, the staff busy. Berthe's meal is served, in its usual place. A calm and hard look that she gives Emile makes him understand that he has lost the game: sitting opposite her, humble and docile, Ada is eating the risotto.
Particular aspects of the novel
The Sunday scene begins in the first chapter and ends in the last. Between the two, the story of the marriage which is being prepared, the household which is torn apart and the drama which is triggered, all in the luminous setting of the Estérel and to rhythm of hotel life.
Technical data
Time and space
Space
Around Cannes, near Mouans-Sartoux.
- Time
Contemporary era.
The characters
Main character
Emile Fayolle. Innkeeper, patron of "La Bastide". Married, no children. In his thirties.
Other characters
- Berthe Harnaud, wife of Emile, in her thirties
- Ada Pascali, servant at "La Bastide", 21 years old
- Mrs. Harnaud, mother of Berthe.
Éditions
- Édition originale : Presses de la Cité, 1959
- Tout Simenon, tome 9, Omnibus, 2002 Template:ISBN
- Livre de Poche n° 32507, 2012 Template:ISBN
- Romans durs, tome 10, Omnibus, 2013 Template:ISBN
Adaptations
Sonntag (1985) by Stanislav Barabas, with Wolfgang Büttner and Liza Kreuzer (Berthe).
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. 202-203 Template:ISBN
Links
