La nuit du carrefour
Encyclopedia
Maigret at the Crossroads is a detective novel by the Belgian writer Georges Simenon
. Published in 1931, it is one of the earliest novels to feature Inspector Maigret
in the role of the chief police investigator, a character that has since become one of the best-known detectives in fiction.
The plot of the novel is driven by the murder of Isaac Goldberg, a Jewish diamond merchant, in a place outside Paris
known as the Three Widows' Crossroads. The cast of characters includes:
Originally written in French
, the novel was translated into English
by Robert Baldick
and published by Penguin
in 1963. It was dramatized in film form by Jean Renoir
when he shot Night at the Crossroads
.
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer. A prolific author who published nearly 200 novels and numerous short works, Simenon is best known for the creation of the fictional detective Maigret.-Early life and education:...
. Published in 1931, it is one of the earliest novels to feature Inspector Maigret
Maigret
Jules Maigret, Maigret to most people, including his wife, is a fictional police detective, actually a commissaire or commissioner of the Paris "Brigade Criminelle" , created by writer Georges Simenon.Seventy-five novels and twenty-eight short stories about Maigret were published between 1931 and...
in the role of the chief police investigator, a character that has since become one of the best-known detectives in fiction.
The plot of the novel is driven by the murder of Isaac Goldberg, a Jewish diamond merchant, in a place outside Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
known as the Three Widows' Crossroads. The cast of characters includes:
- Carl Andersen and Else Andersen, an aristocratic DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
duo who live in a secluded house at the crossroads - Monsieur Michonnet, an insurance agent in whose car the body of Goldberg was found
- Monsieur Oscar, the owner of the service station at the crossroads
Originally written in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the novel was translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Robert Baldick
Robert Baldick
Robert Baldick was a British scholar of French literature, writer, joint editor of the Penguin Classics series with Betty Radice and a well-known translator. He was a Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford....
and published by Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
in 1963. It was dramatized in film form by Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
when he shot Night at the Crossroads
Night at the Crossroads
Night at the Crossroads is a 1932 film by Jean Renoir based on the novel of the same title by Georges Simenon and starring Renoir's brother Pierre Renoir as Simenon's popular detective, Inspector Maigret....
.