Summary of Thérèse Desqueyroux
“Thérèse Desqueyroux” tells the story of a French woman, Thérèse, who attempts to poison her husband, but is acquitted after he testifies in court in her defence to avoid a scandal. Thérèse wishes to explain her motives to him, but he refuses to listen and confines her to live in isolation at his family estate at Argelouse.
Reasons to read Thérèse Desqueyroux
“Thérèse Desqueyroux” is a classic French psychological novel about a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, from which she tries to escape by murdering her husband. There is a suggestion that Thérèse may be a lesbian and in love with her husband’s sister. The author, François Mauriac, was a celebrated French writer and laureate of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known novels are “Thérèse Desqueyroux” and “Le désert de l’amour (“The Desert of Love”), which won the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française in 1926. “Thérèse Desqueyroux” was listed in Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century in 1999 and has been adapted for film several times, included a 2012 film starring Audrey Tautou in the title role.
Setting: Argelouse, Landes (France)
Original title: Thérèse Desqueyroux
Year of publication: 1927
Nr of pages: 128
