He half-heartedly tries to hitch a ride, then spends his last few francs for the bus when that opportunity presents itself. Jean isn't literally at a crossroads at the opening of The Widow the twenty-eight-year-old is simply walking along a stretch of road - but without a clear destination in mind. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole.

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers.

'All the same, one can feel behind them the writer, carefully noting the details, the business of recreation, of rounding out character, has not been completed, although the proportions of the piece are perfectly judged.' - J.W.Lambert, Sunday Times.

'(M)ore like a great many other Simenon novels, with familiar virtues (a fully realized background of small-farm life near Vichy a memorably lusty title character) and familiar weaknesses (somewhat desultory narration irony and violence dictated by the author rather than the characters) and John Petrie's translation is no more than adequate.' - Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review.

La veuve Couderc was made into a film in 1971, directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre and starring Alain Delon and Simone Signoretī+ : solid, if perhaps a bit too inevitable.

Originally published in English as Ticket of Leave.

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The widow georges simenon