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A new translation of Georges Simenon's devastating novel set on the French Riviera, book seventeen in the new Penguin Maigret series. It had a smell of holidays. The previous evening, in Cannes harbour, with the setting sun, had also had the smell of holidays, especially the Ardena, whose owner swaggered in front of two girls with gorgeous figures.. Dazzled at first by the glamour of sunny Antibes, Maigret soon finds himself immersed in the less salubrious side of the Riviera as he retraces show more the final steps of a local eccentric. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret on the Riviera. 'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian 'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' Independent show lessTags
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Ay, Georges Simenon! Just when I think I’ve finally gotten the true measure of Chief Inspector Maigret, you write a 180-degree curve into a novel, making me reassess the French sleuth yet again. Let me explain.
Antibes, the literal scene of the crime, is on the French Riviera between Nice and Cannes. That’s where William Brown, an Australian ex-patriate who had worked with French Intelligence, settled down 10 years ago. The Brown household consisted of Brown “and his two women” — Brown’s buxom, much younger mistress Gina Martini and Gina’s shrewish mother — which he supports on a monthly budget of 2,000 francs.
Brown dies under unusual circumstances and Gina and her mother weave an implausible tale, one that causes the show more local authorities to summon Chief Inspector Jules Maigret from Paris to investigate. Maigret soon finds out that Brown led a secret life when he would disappear each month for a bender, each time returning with his allowance.
I’m a big fan of the mercurial Maigret, but in Liberty Bar — previously published as Maigret on the Riviera — the always sexist Maigret descends into misogyny. His unreasonable distaste for the admittedly venal Martini women and others and his identification with the drunken William Brown proved pretty off-putting. Better a feckless, irresponsible drunk who values a woman only for her looks than a sex kitten who looks out for her own interests? If anything, what we have is a consensual transaction, with both parties equally creditable or blameworthy.
But just as soon as I’ve written him off as an insufferable, distasteful sexist, Maigret finds two other women — the fat, motherly widow, Jaja, who owns and runs the Liberty Bar in Cannes, and her friend, the young, tender-hearted prostitute Sylvie — and he waxes so admiringly about them both, that — yet again — I don’t know what to think about Maigret. Cad, or likeable curmudgeon? Perhaps, I’ll never know. With novels this good, you can bet I’m going to keep trying to find out — and reading further into the series! With more than 75 Maigret books to his credit, Simenon has provided me enough fodder to last me for decades to come. show less
Antibes, the literal scene of the crime, is on the French Riviera between Nice and Cannes. That’s where William Brown, an Australian ex-patriate who had worked with French Intelligence, settled down 10 years ago. The Brown household consisted of Brown “and his two women” — Brown’s buxom, much younger mistress Gina Martini and Gina’s shrewish mother — which he supports on a monthly budget of 2,000 francs.
Brown dies under unusual circumstances and Gina and her mother weave an implausible tale, one that causes the show more local authorities to summon Chief Inspector Jules Maigret from Paris to investigate. Maigret soon finds out that Brown led a secret life when he would disappear each month for a bender, each time returning with his allowance.
I’m a big fan of the mercurial Maigret, but in Liberty Bar — previously published as Maigret on the Riviera — the always sexist Maigret descends into misogyny. His unreasonable distaste for the admittedly venal Martini women and others and his identification with the drunken William Brown proved pretty off-putting. Better a feckless, irresponsible drunk who values a woman only for her looks than a sex kitten who looks out for her own interests? If anything, what we have is a consensual transaction, with both parties equally creditable or blameworthy.
But just as soon as I’ve written him off as an insufferable, distasteful sexist, Maigret finds two other women — the fat, motherly widow, Jaja, who owns and runs the Liberty Bar in Cannes, and her friend, the young, tender-hearted prostitute Sylvie — and he waxes so admiringly about them both, that — yet again — I don’t know what to think about Maigret. Cad, or likeable curmudgeon? Perhaps, I’ll never know. With novels this good, you can bet I’m going to keep trying to find out — and reading further into the series! With more than 75 Maigret books to his credit, Simenon has provided me enough fodder to last me for decades to come. show less
Inspector Maigret travels to the Riviera to solve the murder of a man stabbed in the back. Two households of women, so much booze, a dreamy-as-hell atmosphere, and an outcome that hits like a ton of bricks. One of my favorite Simenons so far.
MAIGRET ON THE RIVIERA (1940) by Georges Simenon is a great example of logical thinking, exploring the back lanes, and the power of letting others do the talking. When a man dies on his front step, the two women he lives with panic. That he has been stabbed is obvious, where the stabbing occurred is not so forth coming. The man drove himself back from town. Was he stabbed in town, during the drive or on his porch?
And what of the missing days that occur every month, and which just happened prior to his return home.
This is an interesting little puzzle, as are all Simenon's Maigret novels. If you get a chance you might amuse yourself with this or any of the other hundred or so stories out there.
And what of the missing days that occur every month, and which just happened prior to his return home.
This is an interesting little puzzle, as are all Simenon's Maigret novels. If you get a chance you might amuse yourself with this or any of the other hundred or so stories out there.
Top notch Simenon ... the milieu of the bar and Jaja and Sylvie. The place Brown went when he had done everything he needed to do and was just slowly expiring. Getting away from the mistress and her mother. I was surprised by the clarity of the ending ... the one beautiful tryst with Sylvie and Jaja crazy making jealousy. I love that he tossed the knife in the bushes on his way back to the villa.
In comparison to the "Yellow Dog" and "The Fortuneteller", I liked this one much better, for Maigret was more involved, he was more active and the other characters were much more interesting and real. I find that so many of Simenon's characters are just ugly, cold, uncaring, and stiff.
Maigret is called to Antibes because man is found stabbed and dead on his doorstep and it needs to be handled in a "tactful" manner.... His mistress & her mother at first do nothing because they believe that he was in his usual monthly drunken binge state.....
Following the man's usual routine, Maigret finds that the man not only has another Mistress, but in unveiling the mystery has a wife & three sons on a very flush sheep ranch in Australia. He had been show more disowned by his family for failing to return home and was in the process of suing them.....
It also turns out that the man may have had political "connections", but the book never went in to that aspect of the dead man's past.
The book was a fast & easy read and it held my interest. I just ordered the series w/ Jean Gabin for the Library's DVD collection, so we'll see how those are..... show less
Maigret is called to Antibes because man is found stabbed and dead on his doorstep and it needs to be handled in a "tactful" manner.... His mistress & her mother at first do nothing because they believe that he was in his usual monthly drunken binge state.....
Following the man's usual routine, Maigret finds that the man not only has another Mistress, but in unveiling the mystery has a wife & three sons on a very flush sheep ranch in Australia. He had been show more disowned by his family for failing to return home and was in the process of suing them.....
It also turns out that the man may have had political "connections", but the book never went in to that aspect of the dead man's past.
The book was a fast & easy read and it held my interest. I just ordered the series w/ Jean Gabin for the Library's DVD collection, so we'll see how those are..... show less
After not finishing a depressing book about Russia and some of the former Soviet countries, it was like a breath of fresh air sitting with a Maigret. Granted this isn't a happy story, but it's Maigret and it takes place on the Cote d'Azur, and hey.
I do find it interesting that fairly regularly Maigret makes executive decisions on who he is going to arrest for all the murder and mayhem. He has a very definite inner moral compass and he isn't afraid to use it in doling out justice!
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1,317+ Works 62,742 Members
The prolific Belgian-born writer Georges Simenon produced hundreds of fictional works under his own name and 17 pseudonyms, in addition to more than 70 books about Inspector Maigret, long "the favorite sleuth of highbrow detective-story readers" (SR). More than 50 "Simenons" have been made into films. In addition to his mystery stories, he wrote show more what he called "hard" books, the serious psychological novels numbering well over 100. The autobiographical Pedigree, set in his native town of Liege, is perhaps his finest work. The publication of Simenon's intimate memoirs also attracted considerable attention. Simenon himself once said that he would never write a "great novel." Yet Gide called him "a great novelist, perhaps the greatest and truest novelist we have in French literature today," and Thornton Wilder (see Vol. 1) found that Simenon's narrative gift extends "to the tips of his fingers." The following are some of Simenon's novels, exclusive of the Maigret detective stories, that are in print. (Bowker Author Biography) Georges Simenon was born on February 13, 1903 in Liege, Belgium. He wrote more than 200 fiction works under 16 different pseudonyms. His first book, The Case of Peter the Lent led to 80 more of the like including the main character, Inspector Maigret. He published over 400 books that were translated into 50 different languages and sold by the millions. He also wrote psychological novels, including The Man Who Watched the Train Go By. He died on September 4, 1989 in Lausanne. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Liberty Bar
- Original title
- Liberty Bar, 1977
- Alternate titles
- Maigret on the Riviera
- Original publication date
- 1932-07 (original French) (original French); 1940 (in English) (in English)
- People/Characters
- Jules Maigret; William Brown
- Important places
- Côte d'Azur, France; Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France; Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
- Related movies*
- Liberty Bar (1960 | IMDb); Liberty Bar (1960 | IMDb); Liberty Bar (1979 | IMDb); Maigret et le Liberty Bar (1997 | IMDb)
- First words
- It all began with a holiday feeling.
[Watson translation, 2015] - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And Maigret couldn't help thinking: Jaja wanted love, but...
- Original language
- French
- Disambiguation notice
- In the French original, Liberty Bar (July 1932).
Variously published in English as:
(i) "Liberty Bar,", trans. Geoffrey Sainsbury in Maigret Travels South (1940), and Liberty Bar; ... (show all)
(ii) Maigret on the Riviera, trans. Geoffrey Sainsbury (1988) and
(iii) Liberty Bar, trans. David Watson (2015).
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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