Émile, un obrero retirado y algo tosco, conoce a Marguerite, una mujer afectada y puritana que vive en el recuerdo de un pasado mejor, con quien termina casándose para compartir su soledad. Pero pronto las desavenencias entre ambos se hacen evidentes y la vida matrimonial se transforma en un infierno. La desa­parición del gato de Émile es el detonante de un cruel enfrentamiento que lleva a los ancianos a la destrucción.

Very tense, unusual novel. I found it depressing, and so sad but easy to stay interested . The details, the descriptions of everything are excellent. ( )

I thought i had stumbled upon a Simenon that i was only middling on- the story of the older, 2nd marriage couple who hate each other and don't talk and only write nasty little notes to each other - was interesting (sort of) but not compelling. Almost seemed a little cheap / easy angle for the author. I think it was the introduction of the character of Nellie- the cafe / bar owner - woman of easy virtue who is over the top supportive of our lead male lead (almost reminds me of "I don't have to speak and she defends me..."). She takes him in after the old shrew wife starts taunting the male lead (Bouin) with a nearby crazy (fortune telling) lady friend- describing how bad Bouin is all day to her. Bouin enjoys Nellie's hospitality, the way he enjoyed his mother's and 1st wife's care for him. It's pretty idyllic, but the old woman misses him and begins showing herself looking for him and Bouin weakens and decides to come back (as Nellie predicted all along) and they come to a better understanding one guesses. Still hating each other, but in that good warm way that seems to satisfy them both (?). Poignant ending scenes with the old avenue being battered down to make way for new houses and finally a health crisis: the woman collapses- stroke? dead? we don't know but then he is broken by this and we see him in the hospital... needing to mend (from what?) and not sure about the wife. It is for the poignancy of the ending and the interesting accommodation with Nellie that this book - again- comes to the 5 star honor category. Still though, even with all that - not too interested in seeing the probably very good Simone Signoret / Jean Gabin film. ( )

This was very different from other books I’ve read by Simenon. Usually they have been from the Maigret series.

Emile and Marguerite have been married eight years. Their previous spouses had died earlier on. The two seemed to have married for companionship and not romance. They had met when Emile lived across the street and both were widowed. They seemed to be complete opposites.

Marguerite comes from money. Her father had owned his own business and had built the building she lived in and the one across the street. The street (or alley as it is referred to in the book) is named for him. Her previous husband had been first violin at the opera.

Emile’s father had been a mason and Emile had followed that path. His previous wife was a country girl who worked as a sales girl in a deli. She had been a lively woman who loved life.

There had always been a bit of a split in their relationship. What drove it completely apart was his cat and her parrot.

They lived under the same roof, but they were not a pair. They no longer spoke to each other – the communicated by notes. They each had their own locked cabinet for food, as each felt the other didn’t know the proper food to eat. They did their own shopping, but not together. They slept in separate beds, in the same room. They did their own specific chores. They were married in name only.

At this point, they have a deep hatred for each other. They do small things to annoy each other and watch out of the corner of their eye for the reaction, trying not to show any reaction of their own.

The tension is thick. They are up in years and it is only a matter of time till they die. The question is who will die first?

It was a book I wouldn’t normally read, but the writing kept me going. I had to know what happened. ( )

Una coppia di ultra settantenni inaciditi e pieni di rancori, la cui vita scorre sempre uguale dentro ambienti semibui e polverosi.è al centro di questo magnifico romanzo. La morte del gatto di Emile, quasi certamente per mano della moglie, crea una situazione di odio implacabile che paradossalmente finisce per costituire la sola ragione del loro convivere,
Dal libro è stato tratto il film del 1971 "Le chat - l'implacabile uomo di Saint Germain" di Pierre Granier-Deferre ( )