Des couples

by Maurice Leblanc, Jacques Derouard (Préface)

This collection contains 7 short-stories published by Maurice Leblanc, the creator of Arsène Lupin, 15 years before he became famous with the exploits of his lovable burglar. They are squarely naturalistic, and cover the same sort of ground as the story by Guy de Maupassant, to whom the volume is dedicated.

223 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Maurice Leblanc (1864 - 1941) was a French novelist, best known as the creator of gentleman thief (later detective) Arsène Lupin.

Leblanc began as a journalist, until he was asked to write a short story filler, and created, more gallant and dashing than English counterpart Sherlock Holmes.

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid and enjoyable collection of stories by the young Maurice Leblanc. Originally, they brought him neither money nor fame, and it's only 15 years later he became a household name with the creation of Arsène Lupin. Therefore the interest of this reprint lies largely in discovering what sort of a writer he wanted to be before he found his groove. What's nice about this collection is the thematic unity, underlined by the title. All the stories deal with married couples or lovers, and often have the cynical cast of mind typical of the times. The blackest one is the story of a couple who eventually kill the child they longed for during many years, but find themselves unable to cope with, more because of their need to stick to an undemanding routine than because of the drain on their meagre finances. As a kind of bleak farce in the vein of Maupassant and Flaubert, it's really quite good.