The Strangers in the House

1940 novel by Georges Simenon

The Strangers in the House

First UK edition
(publ. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951)

Author| Georges Simenon
Original title| Les Inconnus dans la maison
Language| French
Publisher| Gallimard

Publication date

| 1940
Publication place| France

Published in English

| 1951
Media type| Print

Les Inconnus dans la maison (The Strangers in the House) is a novel by Belgian author Georges Simenon. It was first published in 1940 by Gallimard in Paris.

An English translation by Geoffrey Sainsbury was published in the UK in 1951; it was reissued by New York Review Books Classics in 2006 with an introduction by P.D. James. A second English translation, by Robert Baldick, was published by Penguin Books in 1967.[1]

## Synopsis

[edit]

After his wife left him and their young daughter in favor of another man, Hector Loursat gave up on almost everything in life. Throwing away his law career in favor of alcoholism and reading, Hector paid little attention to his daughter Nicole, unsure if he was even her true father. As such, he was largely unaware of her life until he heard someone fire a gun within the house. Upon investigating, Hector discovers a man dead in one of the bedrooms. Nicole, now a teenager, and her friends brought him home after hitting them with their car, only for one of the group to murder him. The authorities believe the killer to be Nicole's boyfriend, Emile, and quickly charge him.

To the surprise of some, Hector takes up Emile's defense, as he ultimately believes the young man to be innocent. Proving this requires Hector to team up with his daughter Nicole, who only somewhat tolerates him as a result of years of neglect.

## Adaptations

[edit]

The Strangers in the House has received four film adaptations, the first of which was a 1942 French film directed by Henri Decoin. This adaptation featured Raimu as Hector Loursat and André Reybaz as Émile Manu. An adaptation and remake of the French film followed in 1967, starring James Mason and Bobby Darin as the fallen lawyer and the young man accused of murder. Geraldine Chaplin, the fourth child of actor Charlie Chaplin, starred as the daughter.[2] The film underperformed at the box office, with the studio reporting a loss of $795,000.[3] This film was itself later remade in 1997. A second French adaptation was made in 1992, L'Inconnu dans la maison, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as Jacques Loursat.

## Reception

[edit]

The novel has been described as "wonderfully claustrophobic".[4] John Banville regards Strangers in the House as one of Simenon's finest novels and "the quintessential roman dur: direct, spare, sensuously atmospheric, hypnotic in its realism, and honest in a way that few novelists would dare to be."[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Georges Simenon, Stranger in the House, Penguin Books [#2732], 1967
2. ^ "Stranger in the House (1967)". AllMovie. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
3. ^ "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses", Variety, 31 May 1973 p. 3
4. ^ Black, Benjam (21 January 2016). "The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, book of a lifetime". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
5. ^ Banville, John (28 May 2008). "The Escape Artist: John Banville on Georges Simenon". LA Weekly. Retrieved 25 July 2018.

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Georges Simenon

* Bibliography

Jules Maigret
novels|

* The Strange Case of Peter the Lett (1931)
* The Crime at Lock 14 (1931)
* The Death of Monsieur Gallet (1931)
* The Crime of Inspector Maigret (1931)
* A Battle of Nerves (1931)
* Maigret and the Yellow Dog (1931)
* Maigret at the Crossroads (1931)
* The Sailors' Rendezvous (1931)
* Maigret at the Gai-Moulin (1931)
* Guinguette by the Seine (1931)
* The Shadow in the Courtyard (1932)
* Maigret Goes Home (1932)
* The Flemish Shop (1932)
* Death of a Harbour Master (1932)
* The Madman of Bergerac (1932)
* Maigret in Exile (1940)
* Maigret and the Hotel Majestic (1942)
* Maigret and the Spinster (1942)
* To Any Lengths (1944)
* Maigret and the Toy Village (1944)
* Maigret Gets Angry (1947)
* Maigret in New York (1947)
* A Summer Holiday (1948)
* Maigret's Dead Man (1948)
* Maigret's First Case (1948)
* My Friend Maigret (1949)
* Maigret and the Coroner (1949)
* Maigret and the Old Lady (1950)
* Madame Maigret's Own Case (1950)
* Maigret's Memoirs (1950)
* Inspector Maigret and the Strangled Stripper (1950)
* Maigret and the Burglar's Wife (1951)
* Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters (1951)
* Maigret's Revolver (1952)
* Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard (1953)
* Maigret's Mistake (1953)
* Maigret Goes to School (1954)
* Maigret and the Headless Corpse (1955)
* Maigret Sets a Trap (1955)
* Maigret's Failure (1956)
* Maigret Has Scruples (1958)
* Maigret and the Lazy Burglar (1961)
* Maigret and the Saturday Caller (1962)
* Maigret and the Dosser (1963)
* Maigret on the Defensive (1964)
* The Patience of Maigret (1965)
* Maigret Hesitates (1968)
* Maigret and the Killer (1969)
* Maigret and the Mad Woman (1970)
* Maigret and the Loner (1971)
* Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)

Other novels|

* Les Fiançailles de M. Hire (1933)
* The Night Club (1933)
* Tropic Moon (1933)
* Chit of a Girl (1938)
* The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (1938)
* Le Bourgmestre de Furnes (1939)
* The Strangers in the House (1940)
* Strange Inheritance (1941)
* La Veuve Couderc (1942)
* Young Cardinaud (1942)
* Act of Passion (1946)
* The Mahé Circle (1946)
* The Couple from Poitiers (1946)
* Pedigree (1948)
* The Bottom of the Bottle (1949)
* Belle (1952)
* Red Lights (1953)
* The Watchmaker of Everton (1954)
* The Little Man from Archangel (1956)
* The Cat (1967)
* The Man on the Bench in the Barn (1968)
* The Prison (1968)
* The Disappearance of Odile (1971)
* The Glass Cage (1971)

Works about|

* The Man Who Wasn't Maigret (1992 biography)

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