Georges Simenon: 'Maigrets' and the 'roman durs' (Life & Times S.) (H Books)

Georges (Joseph Chrétien) Simenon (1903-1989) was a renowned Belgian-French novelist. Obsessed by writing, Simenon may well be one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century: he wrote more than 400 novels, half of them using 20 different pseudonyms. His first novel under his own name was The Case of Peter the Lett (1931), in which he introduced one of the best-known characters in detective fiction, the pipe-smoking Parisian police detective Inspector Maigret. He wrote some 80 more Maigret novels, as well as 130 psychological novels, numerous short stories, and autobiographical works. The central theme running through his fiction is the isolated existence of the neurotic, abnormal individual. The renowned French literature expert Lucille Becker dives behind the mountain of writing and finds new insights into how much of Simenon's life influenced his writing.