Knot of vipers

Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature François Mauriac debuts at José Olympio with a translation by Ivone Benedetti. In his country house in the Bordeaux vineyards, the spiteful lawyer Louis is bedridden. As he awaits death, he writes to his wife, Isabelle, seeking to elaborate on the hatred he feels for her and their children. Disinheriting them seems like the only possible revenge after a forty-year marriage silently cultivated with resentment and hurt, feelings that, with rage and cruelty, he will gladly reveal. However, unbeknownst to him, the plan for revenge becomes a cry for forgiveness. *Knot of Vipers* is the confession of a man who turned his back on love and redemption. Known for probing the darkest crevices of the human psyche, here, the French Nobel Prize-winning writer masterfully explores the human character that reveals itself only in the face of death. Ivone Benedetti's translation restores the original elegance of Mauriac's writing in Portuguese. In all of literature, few works so viscerally portray a soul devoured by pride and greed, yet equal to all others in its search for salvation. Not without reason, this is considered one of François Mauriac's masterpieces. "Both as a novelist, in the school of Dostoevsky, and as a poet, in the school of Baudelaire, Mauriac lives up to his current status as one of the world's greatest writers." — The New York Times "Mauriac is a painter of souls, who excels at creating, from his own resources, the moral climate essential to the existence of his characters." — Le Monde "His book beautifully evokes the destructive effect of greed on human relationships and the way our convictions can change." — Daily Mail "The novels of this renowned writer often leave a sense of gravity and drama in the minds of readers." — Le Parisien