Thérèse Desqueyroux

A classic with translation and foreword by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. In southwestern France, in a remote village punished by the sun and plunged into a feverish atmosphere, Thérèse Desqueyroux's heroine is accused of poisoning her husband, Bernard, with an overdose of a medicine containing arsenic. A fervent Catholic obsessed with the problem of guilt and redemption, François Mauriac demonstrates in this novel all his qualities as a great storyteller. In this beautiful translation by the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade, the plot moves through terrain that Mauriac masterfully explored: it delves into the most hidden meanders of family life in the French provinces, closely following the murky path of the protagonist of a marital scandal, and joining her in a tortuous and torturous examination of conscience.