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Cases of Circumstantial Evidence
The Wife of Martin Guerre
This compelling story of Bertrande de Rols is a rich novella with the timeless power of a fable. It was based on a famous story of a court case in mid-16th century France. Janet Lewis depicts a distant time and a traditional, rural culture based on a highly ordered patriarchal structure. When "Martin Guerre" returns from a quest after eight years, the family embraces him, and Bertrande is swept up in the relief at the apparent return to the security of the old order. But Martin has changed, and Bertrande threatens the established order with her defiant quest for the truth.
109 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
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1602 people want to read
About the author
Janet Lewis
76 books19 followersJanet Loxley Lewis was an American novelist and poet.
She was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she was a member of a literary circle that included Glenway Wescott, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, and her future husband Yvor Winters. She was an active member of the University of Chicago Poetry Club. She taught at both Stanford University in California, and the University of California at Berkeley.
She was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where she was a member of a literary circle that included Glenway Wescott, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, and her future husband Yvor Winters. She was an active member of the University of Chicago Poetry Club. She taught at both Stanford University in California, and the University of California at Berkeley.
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September 2, 2021
Estilísticamente no me ha dicho gran cosa, una simple cuestión de gusto personal, sin embargo, la paradoja que se propone en el libro me parece más que interesante.
La novela plantea el conflicto entre aquello que nos hace felices y nuestros principios: lo que nos hace felices está más allá de la línea roja que no podemos traspasar, y en la parte de acá de la línea roja, la que no podemos abandonar, la felicidad es imposible.
Para mostrar este conflicto, la autora elige como contexto un suceso ocurrido en Francia a finales del XVI, una época en el que la religión y las férreas normas sociales constituyen una segunda piel: un hombre dado por muerto en la guerra vuelve a su aldea y su mujer, poco a poco, va a cuestionar la identidad del que dice ser su marido.
Bertrande, que así se llama la mujer, protagonista indiscutible de la novela, vivirá un conflicto entre un fuerte sentimiento de pecado que hace imposible su paz de espíritu y la felicidad que ve posible junto a este supuesto nuevo marido.
A partir de aquí destripo el final, ustedes deciden si quieren seguir leyendo:
Lo realmente provocador es ver cómo en esa lucha salen vencedores los principios en contra de la propia felicidad, cómo esos principios, que de igual forma podrían ser actitudes o comportamientos que no toleramos de una forma visceral, pueden arrastrarnos de tal forma que seamos capaces de alejarnos de aquellos que queremos y empujarnos al enfrentamiento con nosotros mismos en una pelea que tenemos perdida de antemano.
La novela plantea el conflicto entre aquello que nos hace felices y nuestros principios: lo que nos hace felices está más allá de la línea roja que no podemos traspasar, y en la parte de acá de la línea roja, la que no podemos abandonar, la felicidad es imposible.
Para mostrar este conflicto, la autora elige como contexto un suceso ocurrido en Francia a finales del XVI, una época en el que la religión y las férreas normas sociales constituyen una segunda piel: un hombre dado por muerto en la guerra vuelve a su aldea y su mujer, poco a poco, va a cuestionar la identidad del que dice ser su marido.
Bertrande, que así se llama la mujer, protagonista indiscutible de la novela, vivirá un conflicto entre un fuerte sentimiento de pecado que hace imposible su paz de espíritu y la felicidad que ve posible junto a este supuesto nuevo marido.
A partir de aquí destripo el final, ustedes deciden si quieren seguir leyendo:
Lo realmente provocador es ver cómo en esa lucha salen vencedores los principios en contra de la propia felicidad, cómo esos principios, que de igual forma podrían ser actitudes o comportamientos que no toleramos de una forma visceral, pueden arrastrarnos de tal forma que seamos capaces de alejarnos de aquellos que queremos y empujarnos al enfrentamiento con nosotros mismos en una pelea que tenemos perdida de antemano.
“Estoy acosando a un hombre hasta la muerte, a un hombre que ha sido muchas veces bueno conmigo, el padre de mi hijo pequeño. Estoy destruyendo la felicidad de mi familia, ¿y por qué? Por el bien de la verdad, para liberarme de un engaño que estaba consumiéndome, matándome.”
January 15, 2025
True Story, Fictionalised
“A stranger… then her loved husband, then a man who might have been Martin’s ancestor but not young Martin Guerre.”
This novella was written by an American novelist and published in 1941. It is based on a startling court case in 16th century France, that has been told and adapted many times since, including the 1993 film starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere, Sommersby, which set it in the US Civil War. A decade earlier, Gerard Depardieu starred in Le retour de Martin Guerre. It's quite fun to watch them back to back (though it's many years since I did).
Martin and Bertrande are married young. Shortly after their son, Sanxi, is born, Martin goes away to avoid a dispute with his father, telling Bertrande he will be back in a week or so. Years pass. Martin returns, a changed man – changed for the better. Everyone recognises him, even the animals, but he’s kinder, wiser, gentler. Everyone loves him, including Bertrande - more than ever. Another child is born, and Bertrande begins to fear he is an imposter, and thus that she is an adulteress, destined for eternal damnation. She’s not certain. She questions her sanity: “It was like the shadow of a dark wing sweeping suddenly across the room, and then departing swiftly.”
For a while, she puts her fears to one side, regarding them as delusions, “it lent a strange savour to her passion for him”. For a while.
What Would You Do?
The story is about truth, identity, and loyalty. There is courtroom drama. But the real interest is whether and why someone could get away with such a deceit, and if so, why others might go along with it. If there’s the death penalty in this life and you believe in hellfire in the next, matters are even more complex.
Even if she were certain the man is an imposter, what to do, given that she has a child by each man, has come to love the new Martin, and that the estate and all its servants and workers depend on him?
There is no right answer.
Time and Place
Lewis weaves a lush tapestry of the life, beliefs, and customs of “rich peasant families” in mid the 1500s, along with the scenery and seasonal cycles of the Pyrenees and Basque country. The language is slightly old-fashioned, without being obscure.
Quotes
• “His presence should testify for her that the beasts were safe, that the grain was safe… the family was safe… and therefore the whole world was safe and as it should be.”
• “Bertrande was aware of no other sentiment for her husband than a mild gratitude for his leaving her alone.”
• “Gradually Bertrande’s affection for her husband became a deep and joyous passion, growing slowly and naturally as her body grew.”
• “His ugliness was ancestral, and that in itself was good.”
• “He had deserted her in the full beauty of her youth, in the height of her great passion, he had shamed her and wounded her.”
• “The displeasure of Monsieur Guerre had become as necessary and inevitable part of his character as his spine was of his body. When he entered a room that displeasure entered with him.”
• “The more she strove to recollect his appearance, the vaguer grew her memory.”
• “Her sorrow and her new sense of responsibility ennobled her physical charm.”
• “He attached himself to his father’s person, like a small dog who does not mind whether he is noticed or not, provided he is permitted to be present.”
• “The very walls of the kitchen were animated and seemed to tremble in the ruddy glow from the chimney. The copper vessels winked and blazed. The glazed pottery on the dresser also gave back the quivering light, and his father’s armour… was momentarily like the sky of an autumn sunset.”
• “I see the flesh and bones of Martin Guerre, but in them I see dwelling the spirit of another man.”
• “The air alternately misted, showered, and shone in confusing variability.”
• “Bertrande awoke unrefreshed, and felt in the air, as in her mind, the sultriness which paralleled the sullen temper of the men… the evening before.”
See also
• Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier is an entirely fictional novel that also explores the consequences of a returning soldier. See my 4* review HERE.
• The Return of Martin Guerre - non-fiction that inspired Janet Lewis.
“A stranger… then her loved husband, then a man who might have been Martin’s ancestor but not young Martin Guerre.”
This novella was written by an American novelist and published in 1941. It is based on a startling court case in 16th century France, that has been told and adapted many times since, including the 1993 film starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere, Sommersby, which set it in the US Civil War. A decade earlier, Gerard Depardieu starred in Le retour de Martin Guerre. It's quite fun to watch them back to back (though it's many years since I did).
Martin and Bertrande are married young. Shortly after their son, Sanxi, is born, Martin goes away to avoid a dispute with his father, telling Bertrande he will be back in a week or so. Years pass. Martin returns, a changed man – changed for the better. Everyone recognises him, even the animals, but he’s kinder, wiser, gentler. Everyone loves him, including Bertrande - more than ever. Another child is born, and Bertrande begins to fear he is an imposter, and thus that she is an adulteress, destined for eternal damnation. She’s not certain. She questions her sanity: “It was like the shadow of a dark wing sweeping suddenly across the room, and then departing swiftly.”
For a while, she puts her fears to one side, regarding them as delusions, “it lent a strange savour to her passion for him”. For a while.
What Would You Do?
The story is about truth, identity, and loyalty. There is courtroom drama. But the real interest is whether and why someone could get away with such a deceit, and if so, why others might go along with it. If there’s the death penalty in this life and you believe in hellfire in the next, matters are even more complex.
Even if she were certain the man is an imposter, what to do, given that she has a child by each man, has come to love the new Martin, and that the estate and all its servants and workers depend on him?
There is no right answer.
Time and Place
Lewis weaves a lush tapestry of the life, beliefs, and customs of “rich peasant families” in mid the 1500s, along with the scenery and seasonal cycles of the Pyrenees and Basque country. The language is slightly old-fashioned, without being obscure.
Quotes
• “His presence should testify for her that the beasts were safe, that the grain was safe… the family was safe… and therefore the whole world was safe and as it should be.”
• “Bertrande was aware of no other sentiment for her husband than a mild gratitude for his leaving her alone.”
• “Gradually Bertrande’s affection for her husband became a deep and joyous passion, growing slowly and naturally as her body grew.”
• “His ugliness was ancestral, and that in itself was good.”
• “He had deserted her in the full beauty of her youth, in the height of her great passion, he had shamed her and wounded her.”
• “The displeasure of Monsieur Guerre had become as necessary and inevitable part of his character as his spine was of his body. When he entered a room that displeasure entered with him.”
• “The more she strove to recollect his appearance, the vaguer grew her memory.”
• “Her sorrow and her new sense of responsibility ennobled her physical charm.”
• “He attached himself to his father’s person, like a small dog who does not mind whether he is noticed or not, provided he is permitted to be present.”
• “The very walls of the kitchen were animated and seemed to tremble in the ruddy glow from the chimney. The copper vessels winked and blazed. The glazed pottery on the dresser also gave back the quivering light, and his father’s armour… was momentarily like the sky of an autumn sunset.”
• “I see the flesh and bones of Martin Guerre, but in them I see dwelling the spirit of another man.”
• “The air alternately misted, showered, and shone in confusing variability.”
• “Bertrande awoke unrefreshed, and felt in the air, as in her mind, the sultriness which paralleled the sullen temper of the men… the evening before.”
See also
• Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier is an entirely fictional novel that also explores the consequences of a returning soldier. See my 4* review HERE.
• The Return of Martin Guerre - non-fiction that inspired Janet Lewis.
May 30, 2019
It was well over 30 years ago that I first read the non-fiction book “The Return of Martin Guerre” by Natalie Zemon Davis. I also subsequently saw the 1982 film that starred Gérard Depardieu. This novella by Janet Lewis pre-dated them both by more than 40 years, but I only discovered it through the review written by my GR Friend Laura Whichello – so many thanks to Laura.
The story is based on a real-life case from the 16th century. Martin Guerre, a somewhat morose 20-year-old, disappears one day from his village in south west France, abandoning his wife, Bertrande de Rols, and their son, Sanxi. He returns 8 years later, having lived as a soldier. He claims the property that belonged to his deceased parents and moves back in with his wife, with whom he soon has another child.
What’s strange is that the returned Martin has a different personality from the old one. He is a kind and patient man, and an excellent father to his young son, who quickly comes to hero-worship him. He is attentive to his wife and often gives a word of praise to a servant for a job well-done, something his old self would never have granted. You might have thought Bertrande would have been happy about taking delivery of this improved model, instead of which she begins to suspect him of being an imposter.
My enjoyment of the book was slightly lessened by the fact I knew the story so well, but even so I found this a well-written tale. Both the non-fiction book and the film are told with Martin as the central character, so I liked the idea of imagining the story from Bertrande’s perspective. I wasn’t totally convinced though about how well the author got to the bottom of Bertrande’s motivation. In the novel she is portrayed as suffering religious guilt over the idea she may be living in sin with a man who is not her lawfully wedded spouse. I understand of course that she would have resented the feeling she was being deceived. Still, I wouldn’t mind re-reading the non-fiction account to see what else might have been going on with Bertrande. I remember some of what was said about her in that book, but not of all it.
I think in the end this is a novel about actions and consequences, for all those who were involved in this strangest of stories. A solid 4-star rating from me.
The story is based on a real-life case from the 16th century. Martin Guerre, a somewhat morose 20-year-old, disappears one day from his village in south west France, abandoning his wife, Bertrande de Rols, and their son, Sanxi. He returns 8 years later, having lived as a soldier. He claims the property that belonged to his deceased parents and moves back in with his wife, with whom he soon has another child.
What’s strange is that the returned Martin has a different personality from the old one. He is a kind and patient man, and an excellent father to his young son, who quickly comes to hero-worship him. He is attentive to his wife and often gives a word of praise to a servant for a job well-done, something his old self would never have granted. You might have thought Bertrande would have been happy about taking delivery of this improved model, instead of which she begins to suspect him of being an imposter.
My enjoyment of the book was slightly lessened by the fact I knew the story so well, but even so I found this a well-written tale. Both the non-fiction book and the film are told with Martin as the central character, so I liked the idea of imagining the story from Bertrande’s perspective. I wasn’t totally convinced though about how well the author got to the bottom of Bertrande’s motivation. In the novel she is portrayed as suffering religious guilt over the idea she may be living in sin with a man who is not her lawfully wedded spouse. I understand of course that she would have resented the feeling she was being deceived. Still, I wouldn’t mind re-reading the non-fiction account to see what else might have been going on with Bertrande. I remember some of what was said about her in that book, but not of all it.
I think in the end this is a novel about actions and consequences, for all those who were involved in this strangest of stories. A solid 4-star rating from me.
July 1, 2024
Janet Lewis.- prosa milimétrica, pulcra, bien cuidada. No la había leído y me ha gustado.
“La anciana volvió el rostro hacia ella sin enderezarse, todavía pesadamente inclinada hacia delante, sobre su ancho regazo. Su semblante tenía muchas más arrugas que cuando Bertrande la vio por primera vez. Tenía estrías por encima y por debajo de los labios, que corrían paralelas con el trazado de éstos, así como en las comisuras de la boca. Su frente estaba surcada por líneas, que formaban arcos regulares, uno encima de otro, siguiendo la curva de las cejas. Sus ojos estaban rodeados de finos pliegues. La tez era morena y saludable, con manchas rojizas en los pómulos, pero, no obstante, el rostro estaba desgastado.”
Sobre el fondo: No pude dejar de pensar mientras leía en la Odisea, de haberle dado Homero un final distinto. Me explico sin espoilear. Aquí antes de complicarse la trama, Martín Guerre regresa al hogar como el antiguo héroe. En la Odisea, no se profundiza mucho más en el futuro que espera a Ulises, ya mayor tras regresar a Itaca tras 30 años de ausencia; se esboza un sencillo acogimiento en el hogar: Penélope, Telémaco, los sirvientes. La pacífica retirada de los pretendientes de Penélope. Todo este futuro dulce se deja entrever.
Aquí sin embargo, con Martin Guerre tras ocho años desde la partida, la historia es otra bien distinta ¿Qué ocurrirá a su regreso? ¿Que habrá de cierto en las dudas que surgen en su entorno? ¿Es posible que este hubiera sido el derrotero del Ulises de haber continuado la historia? ¿No resulta más verosímil un final tortuoso para un hombre que desaparece de su hogar durante muchos años, que la placidez del acogimiento sin reproches?
La solución pudiera estar en esta lectura, que pone a la protagonista a nivel de heroína, me gustó el final.
“La anciana volvió el rostro hacia ella sin enderezarse, todavía pesadamente inclinada hacia delante, sobre su ancho regazo. Su semblante tenía muchas más arrugas que cuando Bertrande la vio por primera vez. Tenía estrías por encima y por debajo de los labios, que corrían paralelas con el trazado de éstos, así como en las comisuras de la boca. Su frente estaba surcada por líneas, que formaban arcos regulares, uno encima de otro, siguiendo la curva de las cejas. Sus ojos estaban rodeados de finos pliegues. La tez era morena y saludable, con manchas rojizas en los pómulos, pero, no obstante, el rostro estaba desgastado.”
Sobre el fondo: No pude dejar de pensar mientras leía en la Odisea, de haberle dado Homero un final distinto. Me explico sin espoilear. Aquí antes de complicarse la trama, Martín Guerre regresa al hogar como el antiguo héroe. En la Odisea, no se profundiza mucho más en el futuro que espera a Ulises, ya mayor tras regresar a Itaca tras 30 años de ausencia; se esboza un sencillo acogimiento en el hogar: Penélope, Telémaco, los sirvientes. La pacífica retirada de los pretendientes de Penélope. Todo este futuro dulce se deja entrever.
Aquí sin embargo, con Martin Guerre tras ocho años desde la partida, la historia es otra bien distinta ¿Qué ocurrirá a su regreso? ¿Que habrá de cierto en las dudas que surgen en su entorno? ¿Es posible que este hubiera sido el derrotero del Ulises de haber continuado la historia? ¿No resulta más verosímil un final tortuoso para un hombre que desaparece de su hogar durante muchos años, que la placidez del acogimiento sin reproches?
La solución pudiera estar en esta lectura, que pone a la protagonista a nivel de heroína, me gustó el final.
March 30, 2021
The Wife of Martin Guerre, Janet Lewis’s most celebrated novel, emerged from the gift of a good book from husband to wife. Sometime in the 1930s the renowned poet Yvor Winters gave his wife and fellow writer Lewis an old law book, Samuel March Phillips’s Famous Cases of Circumstantial Evidence, thinking that she might find it helpful after she mentioned that she was having trouble with one of her plots.So opens the introduction to this edition of the novel. I could easily quote extensively from this introduction and call it my review, for Kevin Haworth of Swallow Press covers the novel so much better than I ever could. But I admit to not having read it before reading the novel. I was afraid it would be one of those introductions filled with spoilers. It is not that, or not exactly that. I could caution you not to read the Goodreads description as it actually contains more spoilers than the excellent introduction.
Can you tell I'm avoiding reviewing the novel itself? The novel is so short that even this slow reader finished it in a few hours. I suspect that many others could read it in one afternoon sitting. The novel is based on a real court case of 16th Century France. I'll simply say it is fascinating reading. The writing and characterization are superb. Bertrande de Rols was a real person and Janet Lewis has made her live again.
I don't know how many times I have to say I am not a re-reader. For this, there is a chance. A full 5-stars.
December 31, 2011
The Wife Of Martin Guerre is without question one of my favourite works in the English language (or any language for that matter).
My love affair with this book is an interesting one, I was introduced to it in VCE Literature, where I was required to read it several times before we had finished studying it. The first time I read it I despised it, the second time I was bored by it, the third time I began to enjoy it, the forth, I fell in love with it.
There is no question that this is a dense novella, and it requires an effort on the readers part to push past its surface into its wondrous depths, but it contains a beauty that is unparalleled.
My love affair with this book is an interesting one, I was introduced to it in VCE Literature, where I was required to read it several times before we had finished studying it. The first time I read it I despised it, the second time I was bored by it, the third time I began to enjoy it, the forth, I fell in love with it.
There is no question that this is a dense novella, and it requires an effort on the readers part to push past its surface into its wondrous depths, but it contains a beauty that is unparalleled.
August 15, 2018
What a curious tale!
The story of Betrand de Rols (the titular wife of Martin Guerre) is based on true events, which fascinated de Rols's contemporaries as much as it does us now. Why did Guerre stay away from his wife and estate so long? Where has he been? Is it truly Guerre who has returned into Betrand's life, and how far will Betrand go to uncover the truth?
Being a novella, its impressive that such depth was revealed in such a short amount of space. Lewis' writing is particularly satisfying - each word seems carefully selected, to impart as much information about the narrative events as about Betrand's inner life in only a single paragraph. We get to know Betrand's mind and heart so well, so intimately, that I felt genuine anger for the events that befall both the fictional and the real woman. If a writer can do that in fewer than a hundred pages then I'm duly impressed!
The story of Betrand de Rols (the titular wife of Martin Guerre) is based on true events, which fascinated de Rols's contemporaries as much as it does us now. Why did Guerre stay away from his wife and estate so long? Where has he been? Is it truly Guerre who has returned into Betrand's life, and how far will Betrand go to uncover the truth?
Being a novella, its impressive that such depth was revealed in such a short amount of space. Lewis' writing is particularly satisfying - each word seems carefully selected, to impart as much information about the narrative events as about Betrand's inner life in only a single paragraph. We get to know Betrand's mind and heart so well, so intimately, that I felt genuine anger for the events that befall both the fictional and the real woman. If a writer can do that in fewer than a hundred pages then I'm duly impressed!
October 29, 2021
Novela corta, en la que se narra, con una prosa ágil y elegante, una historia francamente curiosa (sobre todo porque ocurrió en realidad en Francia en el siglo XVI) y llena de intriga. He disfrutado bastante con su lectura. No conocía a esta escritora y me ha gustado su forma de escribir. Seguramente leeré las otras dos novelas que completan la trilogía de Casos de pruebas circunstanciales.
Como dato curioso, conforme iba leyendo la novela me recordaba mucho a una película que vi hace tiempo, titulada Sommersby. Como me picaba la curiosidad, consulté la ficha de la película en filmaffinity y, efectivamente, está basada en la historia de Martin Guerre y su esposa, aunque adaptándola a una época y una ubicación geográfica diferentes.
Como dato curioso, conforme iba leyendo la novela me recordaba mucho a una película que vi hace tiempo, titulada Sommersby. Como me picaba la curiosidad, consulté la ficha de la película en filmaffinity y, efectivamente, está basada en la historia de Martin Guerre y su esposa, aunque adaptándola a una época y una ubicación geográfica diferentes.
Read
November 8, 2022Okay Goodreads, enough is enough. All I’m trying to do is to finish my review of The World after Capital by Albert Wenger, and you keep sending me here to review The Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis. Sorry, but I haven’t read it. Are you perhaps asking me to read and review it? If so, I’ll put it on my to be read list, but I’ll have to warn you, that list is seriously long so I might get to this book sometime before the end of the century. Now will you just let me review the book I have finished it peace?
December 25, 2017
Un libro de lo más interesante, describiendo la vida en un pequeño pueblo francés, durante la baja Edad Media, tiempos de feudalismo e incipiente burguesía.
La documentación histórica es muy buena (de hecho, comprobé un detalle que me chocó al leerlo -por poco habitual en la época- y comprobé que sí era propio de esa zona concreta de Francia). Y la historia, no por ser ya conocida (hay varias versiones cinematográficas; Sommersby es la más popular), deja de ser curiosa e intrigante, pues aunque sabes el final, desconoces los giros de la historia, los detalles que desencadenan el "núcleo" de la trama
Me ha gustado especialmente que la historia se cuente desde la posición de Bertrande -la mujer de Martin Guerre-, que sean sus miedos y expectativas al inicio de su matrimonio; su proceso de maduración y paso a mujer adulta; su asunción del papel de ama de la casa; su verse viuda y saberse, a continuación, que vuelve a tener marido; sus ilusiones y dudas ante esta nueva decisión, las que nos guíen a lo largo del libro. Esa es, en mi opinión, la gran aportación de este libro, el dar voz a la mujer que no puede ser protagonista en un mundo de hombres, pero que es quien lleva todo el peso de la historia; el meterse (y meternos a los lectores) en la mente y el corazón de esta mujer del siglo XII, a la que llegas a entender, incluso no estando de acuerdo con sus decisiones.
Respecto al estilo, es una rara combinación de sencillez casi periodística y poesía. Las descripciones no tienen demasiado recursos estilísticos, pero sí hay belleza en lo narrado. Diría que es un libro "plácido" que entiendo que es un adjetivo extraño, pero esa es la sensación que me transmite; la placidez del discurrir de las estaciones, de manera pausada y sin sorpresas.
En cualquier caso, un libro muy recomendable
La documentación histórica es muy buena (de hecho, comprobé un detalle que me chocó al leerlo -por poco habitual en la época- y comprobé que sí era propio de esa zona concreta de Francia). Y la historia, no por ser ya conocida (hay varias versiones cinematográficas; Sommersby es la más popular), deja de ser curiosa e intrigante, pues aunque sabes el final, desconoces los giros de la historia, los detalles que desencadenan el "núcleo" de la trama
Me ha gustado especialmente que la historia se cuente desde la posición de Bertrande -la mujer de Martin Guerre-, que sean sus miedos y expectativas al inicio de su matrimonio; su proceso de maduración y paso a mujer adulta; su asunción del papel de ama de la casa; su verse viuda y saberse, a continuación, que vuelve a tener marido; sus ilusiones y dudas ante esta nueva decisión, las que nos guíen a lo largo del libro. Esa es, en mi opinión, la gran aportación de este libro, el dar voz a la mujer que no puede ser protagonista en un mundo de hombres, pero que es quien lleva todo el peso de la historia; el meterse (y meternos a los lectores) en la mente y el corazón de esta mujer del siglo XII, a la que llegas a entender, incluso no estando de acuerdo con sus decisiones.
Respecto al estilo, es una rara combinación de sencillez casi periodística y poesía. Las descripciones no tienen demasiado recursos estilísticos, pero sí hay belleza en lo narrado. Diría que es un libro "plácido" que entiendo que es un adjetivo extraño, pero esa es la sensación que me transmite; la placidez del discurrir de las estaciones, de manera pausada y sin sorpresas.
En cualquier caso, un libro muy recomendable
October 16, 2019
Janet Lewis consigue crear una novela turbadora, inquietante, centrándose sobre todo en la mirada de Bertrande, la esposa abandonada por Martin Guerre; llegado un momento, Martin Guerre vuelve tras años desparecido, y ella tiene que enfrentarse al dilema, que es verdad y que es impostura. ¿Será este su marido?? Betrande es una mujer que se empecina en su verdad en una época en que la mujer no tenia voz, y sin embargo intenta a toda toda costa salvar su coherencia, su verdad. Gran descubrimiento ha sido Janet Lewis, una escritora precisa en la que no hay nada banal, nada artificioso ni gratuito en su escritura; cada frase tiene vida y significado por si misma. Enorme. La edición de Reino de Redonda es impecable.
January 10, 2008
I reread this fine novella after a hiatus of about ten years, having read it several times before. It's a deceptively slim and simple book which presents a host of ideas relevant to modern times. Lewis was a poet and it shows - her imagery is always effortless and at times stunning.
Unfortunately, although I was considering assigning the novel for a college reading class, I decided that it really was "beyond" the average student and that I'd better choose another work. I was hoping to share one of my favorite novels, but in looking over this book list, I realized with some chagrin that I'd probably have to settle for a "lesser" work that is more accessible. My first thought was that since the book is short and written in fairly simple language (with the exception a handful of terms relating to 16th-century Languedoc and feudal systems), that this would be a relatively easy work. But the ethical and moral dilemmas that are at the heart of the novel make this novel anything but simple. It's hard for even a sophisticated reader to come to terms with the events in the novel.
Unfortunately, although I was considering assigning the novel for a college reading class, I decided that it really was "beyond" the average student and that I'd better choose another work. I was hoping to share one of my favorite novels, but in looking over this book list, I realized with some chagrin that I'd probably have to settle for a "lesser" work that is more accessible. My first thought was that since the book is short and written in fairly simple language (with the exception a handful of terms relating to 16th-century Languedoc and feudal systems), that this would be a relatively easy work. But the ethical and moral dilemmas that are at the heart of the novel make this novel anything but simple. It's hard for even a sophisticated reader to come to terms with the events in the novel.
August 4, 2019
Janet Lewis is probably the most underrated/overlooked American novelist and poet of the twentieth century. She went to high school with Hemingway, spent time in Paris in the 1920s, and should certainly be as famous as any of the Lost Generation authors, but somehow has slipped beneath the critical radar despite having a 'major' style. (I'd gladly trade Janet Lewis for Gertrude Stein, e.g.)
May 16, 2024
Possiblement el meu nou Petit preferit. Tots m’han acostumat a agradar molt, però cap m’ha enganxat tant com aquest, fins al punt que m’ha obligat a entrar més tard a la feina per poder-lo acabar.
Com molts Petits, té unes descripcions precioses, aquest cop barrejades amb un cas de suplantació d’identitat a la França del 1500s.
Com diu la dita, ojo de loca, no se equivoca.
Com molts Petits, té unes descripcions precioses, aquest cop barrejades amb un cas de suplantació d’identitat a la França del 1500s.
Com diu la dita, ojo de loca, no se equivoca.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2013
I read this novel years ago for school, but I was clicking around Goodreads randomly and I realised that, for some bizarre reason, this book has a lot of positive reviews, so I thought I'd try to counterbalance that a little.
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd think it'd be easy to avoid putting too much padding in a 109-page novella, but no, this book will do such things as devote an entire page to describing a tree, and honestly, I do not care about trees that much. So. That happens.
But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though.
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd think it'd be easy to avoid putting too much padding in a 109-page novella, but no, this book will do such things as devote an entire page to describing a tree, and honestly, I do not care about trees that much. So. That happens.
But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though.
December 8, 2018
I loved The Return of Martin Guerre. I like its version of the story better. The look exchanged between the wife and the imposter is heartbreaking. I love that it's a true story.
April 12, 2021
For me it was an exact 3.5 star read but I could not round it up. Not because of length (novella) or connection to fable either. It just was so sad and rigid of that time period that the beauty of the prose became dredged within the emotional isolation of the wife. Suffering.
The core character of any human- can it truly vastly change in its immediate cognition or "outlook" to a base temperament's perception? Can people change in immediate reaction and to the verbal as much as Martin changed? It is still a question trying to be answered. I'm with Bertrande. I don't think it can either.
How different these lives were? Choices very much held a totally different connotation that in any aspect they do now. Mores of "good", those especially.
The core character of any human- can it truly vastly change in its immediate cognition or "outlook" to a base temperament's perception? Can people change in immediate reaction and to the verbal as much as Martin changed? It is still a question trying to be answered. I'm with Bertrande. I don't think it can either.
How different these lives were? Choices very much held a totally different connotation that in any aspect they do now. Mores of "good", those especially.
October 16, 2015
Cuando vi el título en seguida pensé en aquella película que protagonizaban Richard Gere y Jodie Foster allá por los 1990s, "Sommersby" se llamaba. La peli solo la vi una vez, pero algo en ella me debió llamar la atención para que tanto tiempo después reconociera enseguida el nombre del protagonista y recordara de qué trataba.
Ni me lo pensé, la verdad, simplemente lo cogí y empecé a leer y ya en la primera página me llevé una sorpresa: no es del todo una novela. La autora lo que hace es explicarnos un caso real que sucedió en Francia en el siglo XVI. Nos explica la historia de un hombre que regresa a casa después de haber estado desaparecido durante años. La familia, los sirvientes y todo el pueblo le reciben con los brazos abiertos y su preciosa mujer le quiere más que nunca, pero ella empieza a ver cosas en él que no encajan y eso la lleva a sospechar que su marido nunca volvió y que el hombre con el que vive y al que ama es un impostor.
La autora intenta reproducir lo que ocurrió de forma fiel, al menos, todo lo fiel que se puede ser al relatar algo que pasó 300 años atrás (el juicio se celebró alrededor de 1560). Para hacerlo, según nos explica ella misma, se basó en varias crónicas que relataban y analizaban el juicio.
El libro me ha parecido muy interesante de leer, sobre todo, una vez acabado cuando piensas un poco en todo el conjunto. La historia está explicada desde la perspectiva de Bertrande, la esposa. Vemos como se enamora de su marido, como le hecha de menos, como se vuelve a enamorar de él cuando regresa y como empieza a sentirse culpable porque sabe que no puede amar a ese hombre que no es su marido. Por último vemos, cómo tiene que enfrentarse a todo y a todos por hacer lo correcto.
La verdad es que al acabar la novela aún me he quedado dándole vueltas a varias cosas. La situación de Bertrande no es nada facil: se ha enamorado del hombre que se hace pasar por su marido y además el impostor es mucho mejor persona que el de verdad, pero todo no deja de ser un engaño y él un desconocido. Hasta aquí, el dilema no parece tan grave: si él es tan buen tío y además la quiere... pues sigue adelante y sé feliz! Pero no podemos olvidar que para ella, al estar con un hombre que no es su marido, está cometiendo adulterio y, por tanto, ha condenado su alma (recordemos que esto pasó en el s.XVI y esas cosas se las tomaban mucho más en serio que ahora). Para ella esto tiene tanta importancia que pasa por un calvario, con todo el mundo en su contra, por hacer lo que ella considera correcto.
Otra cosa a la que sigo dando vueltas es el final. No es que sea muy feliz, se hace justicia, pero en algunos aspectos la resolución parece muy poco justa. Me da pena. Me da mucha pena porque ella no esperaba esas consecuencias, porque los demás jamás volverán a tratarla como antes, porque el impostor habría sido mucho mejor marido, padre y señor de las tierras que el Martin Guerre de verdad y... (a ver cómo digo esto sin soltar un spoiler) porque, básicamente, al final ha perdido tantísimas cosas: renuncia a su amor, su felicidad, el cariño de su familia, etc. y todo por alguien que jamás ha estado a la altura de lo que ha perdido ni la compensará por ello.
No me olvido del impostor, tampoco me gusta cómo terminan las cosas para él porque, aunque cometiera el delito, siempre se portó bien y lo habría seguido haciendo, habrían tenido una buena vida si nadie se hubiera dado cuenta de nada. Y cuando le comparamos con el Martin de verdad... bueno, en una historia de ficción el final de cuento de hadas lo disfrutarían Bertrand y el falso Martin.
Antes de empezar a hacer esta reseña he visto algunos comentarios de otra gente de pasada, uno de ellos me ha llegado al alma, era algo así como: "He visto que tenía valoraciones muy altas. Me obligaron a leerlo en el cole y me pareció un tostón, así que le pongo 1 estrella y hago mi reseña para evitar que alguien lo lea"
No es el único comentario de 1 estrella que dice algo parecido. Aquí tenemos otro ejemplo de libros que te hacen leer en clase cuando aún no tienes edad de apreciarlos y, claro, pasa lo que pasa... Hay libros que es mejor dejar que cada uno escoja cuando quiere leerlos y lo haga cuando le apetezca, porque por muy buenos que sean, a la mayoría de chicos y chicas de 14-17 años les parecerán un tostón si se lo hacen leer y diseccionar para aprobar una asignatura.
Ni me lo pensé, la verdad, simplemente lo cogí y empecé a leer y ya en la primera página me llevé una sorpresa: no es del todo una novela. La autora lo que hace es explicarnos un caso real que sucedió en Francia en el siglo XVI. Nos explica la historia de un hombre que regresa a casa después de haber estado desaparecido durante años. La familia, los sirvientes y todo el pueblo le reciben con los brazos abiertos y su preciosa mujer le quiere más que nunca, pero ella empieza a ver cosas en él que no encajan y eso la lleva a sospechar que su marido nunca volvió y que el hombre con el que vive y al que ama es un impostor.
La autora intenta reproducir lo que ocurrió de forma fiel, al menos, todo lo fiel que se puede ser al relatar algo que pasó 300 años atrás (el juicio se celebró alrededor de 1560). Para hacerlo, según nos explica ella misma, se basó en varias crónicas que relataban y analizaban el juicio.
El libro me ha parecido muy interesante de leer, sobre todo, una vez acabado cuando piensas un poco en todo el conjunto. La historia está explicada desde la perspectiva de Bertrande, la esposa. Vemos como se enamora de su marido, como le hecha de menos, como se vuelve a enamorar de él cuando regresa y como empieza a sentirse culpable porque sabe que no puede amar a ese hombre que no es su marido. Por último vemos, cómo tiene que enfrentarse a todo y a todos por hacer lo correcto.
La verdad es que al acabar la novela aún me he quedado dándole vueltas a varias cosas. La situación de Bertrande no es nada facil: se ha enamorado del hombre que se hace pasar por su marido y además el impostor es mucho mejor persona que el de verdad, pero todo no deja de ser un engaño y él un desconocido. Hasta aquí, el dilema no parece tan grave: si él es tan buen tío y además la quiere... pues sigue adelante y sé feliz! Pero no podemos olvidar que para ella, al estar con un hombre que no es su marido, está cometiendo adulterio y, por tanto, ha condenado su alma (recordemos que esto pasó en el s.XVI y esas cosas se las tomaban mucho más en serio que ahora). Para ella esto tiene tanta importancia que pasa por un calvario, con todo el mundo en su contra, por hacer lo que ella considera correcto.
Otra cosa a la que sigo dando vueltas es el final. No es que sea muy feliz, se hace justicia, pero en algunos aspectos la resolución parece muy poco justa. Me da pena. Me da mucha pena porque ella no esperaba esas consecuencias, porque los demás jamás volverán a tratarla como antes, porque el impostor habría sido mucho mejor marido, padre y señor de las tierras que el Martin Guerre de verdad y... (a ver cómo digo esto sin soltar un spoiler) porque, básicamente, al final ha perdido tantísimas cosas: renuncia a su amor, su felicidad, el cariño de su familia, etc. y todo por alguien que jamás ha estado a la altura de lo que ha perdido ni la compensará por ello.
No me olvido del impostor, tampoco me gusta cómo terminan las cosas para él porque, aunque cometiera el delito, siempre se portó bien y lo habría seguido haciendo, habrían tenido una buena vida si nadie se hubiera dado cuenta de nada. Y cuando le comparamos con el Martin de verdad... bueno, en una historia de ficción el final de cuento de hadas lo disfrutarían Bertrand y el falso Martin.
Antes de empezar a hacer esta reseña he visto algunos comentarios de otra gente de pasada, uno de ellos me ha llegado al alma, era algo así como: "He visto que tenía valoraciones muy altas. Me obligaron a leerlo en el cole y me pareció un tostón, así que le pongo 1 estrella y hago mi reseña para evitar que alguien lo lea"
No es el único comentario de 1 estrella que dice algo parecido. Aquí tenemos otro ejemplo de libros que te hacen leer en clase cuando aún no tienes edad de apreciarlos y, claro, pasa lo que pasa... Hay libros que es mejor dejar que cada uno escoja cuando quiere leerlos y lo haga cuando le apetezca, porque por muy buenos que sean, a la mayoría de chicos y chicas de 14-17 años les parecerán un tostón si se lo hacen leer y diseccionar para aprobar una asignatura.
March 22, 2016
I read this in 1986, years before Goodreads and computers entered our lives!!
This story has a much Larger and Wider Scenario than a private life of a single woman.
My main response was to the tragedy that can be brought about by what I will call "Catholic Scruples" which can drive many to maddness.
Here is a woman who loses one uncaring husband only to have him replaced by a wonderful one, more than she could have ever dreamed possible.
AND WHAT DOES SHE GO AND DO????
Right...she destroys it.
As any faithful daughter of the Church was bound to do.
And as Janet Lewis concludes so perceptively, but perhaps too kindly, when one is dealing with moral fanaticism, "when hate and love have together exhausted the soul, the body seldom endures for long."
Would she have survived mentally her 'husband's' execution outside her home and his body's destruction by fire, the smell of it rammed up her nostrils and she almost luxuriating in the Horror and Idiocy of what she herself had brought about??
"Regrets, I've had a few.."she may have begun to her grandchilden gathered round her knees in days to come, if she had survived that long, well supported by the Moral Righteousness with which her catholic faith would have blessed her deed.
Sin promised to be the Saviour of her Life, or would have been, if only she had had the courage to believe in herself and her own self-rule.
As far as priests go, sane priests are those who realise the insanity of an Idea like Celibacy;
celibacy originally introduced after hundreds of years of married priests,
as an Economic Measure only, but sold as a Spiritual Necessity
...to the gulliblle and obedient, these latter no true virtues!!
No wonder the Church is light on Church History.
Today priests who are able to live as homosexual or heterosexual husbands to another,
both valid sexualities, and still dedicated to the service of the Priesthood
should be reinstalled openly
...along with the creation of Women Priests,
to totally resurrect a now spurned and hopefully dying institution.
Then there will be no need for a Wife of Martin Guerre!!!
And how about it's brevity...95 pages!!!
So much to recommend it in theme and size.
I'd give it 5 stars for it's import...in no way a criticism of lesser evaluations
...since I am coming from a life as a Rebellious Cleric -
sinning in sanctity
and taking my Life's Reins thoroughly out of the hands of a Disabled Church.
Ghastly tragic tale if ever there was one...but needed.
August 27, 2016
First published in 1941, The Wife of Martin Guerre has inspired two movies and a nonfiction history book. Yet now it can be difficult to find. Seek it out—it is a gem. This slim volume (109 pages), based on an actual legal trial, is quietly and beautifully compelling. Please see my full review at: http://herstorynovels.com/wife-martin...
April 3, 2024
Magnífic el relat de Janet Lewis i sensacional la traducció catalana de Marta Pera Cucurell. Un llenguatge poètic per descriure els esdeveniments vitals dels protagonistes, el seu entorn i el paisatge que els envolta. La narració té encant, ritme i desperta un interès creixent fins al seu final d'alçada. Per apujar nota, la seva visió feminista i potent d'empoderament.
July 18, 2021
Wonderful novella, based on real events in 16th century France. Read it for the jewel-like prose alone, but you'll probably become wrapped up in the characters. This is a perennial favorite that I've gone back to several times.
January 29, 2019
I gotta say, I actually quite enjoyed reading this book. (Which I know is scandalous given Maddi and Isabelle's reviews)
I appreciated how short it was and I found the story interesting. In the past, I've found books written similarly to this difficult to read and finish, but I didn't find that with this novel. It felt a bit like I was reading the kind of book you read when you need a rest from hardcore literature and so you read something that isn't hard to digest.
My favourite thing about the book was probably how short it was and therefore how slimmed down the story was, it wasn't like other books I've read that went on forever and ever almost in a rambling fashion.
I appreciated how short it was and I found the story interesting. In the past, I've found books written similarly to this difficult to read and finish, but I didn't find that with this novel. It felt a bit like I was reading the kind of book you read when you need a rest from hardcore literature and so you read something that isn't hard to digest.
My favourite thing about the book was probably how short it was and therefore how slimmed down the story was, it wasn't like other books I've read that went on forever and ever almost in a rambling fashion.
September 14, 2024
This is a fairly predictable, old-world crime thriller, elevated somewhat by a dramatic prose style. Every time it gets close to becoming boring, some new piece of evidence is introduced. It's like the Dashiell Hammett style: there's constant evolution. It doesn't really matter that the plot is predictable, because there's a relentless movement pushing it forward.
January 11, 2020
This was a Christmas present, which I have just gobbled up on a January day when even opening an outside door is a major challenge (gales and lashing rain, plus biting cold for good measure). In front of a blazing fire I read a true tale set in 16th century France in the clear air of the Pyrenees, and savoured exquisite descriptions of the landscape, with, on the very first page, the “great sheets and dunes” of snow holding the village in enforced idleness (reminding me of “The Dancing Bear”, which I have just finished), and then spring, when “all the valley was murmurous with the sound of rushing water”. It is summer when the dramatic climax of the first part of the story occurs, but it is the evocations of autumn that match the culminating richness, then the brilliant decay, which move the narrative on. Writing to be rolled on the tongue, like the tumultuous streams of the mountains.
“It was the time of year when the grapes were being harvested, and the odor of ripe muscats was in the air. When the wine was made and the leaves on the vine stocks had turned scarlet, Bertrande rode out among valleys that dipped in fire toward Luchon betweeen the irregular advances of the woods, saw the conical haystacks burning with dull gold beside the stone walls of farm buildings, felt, as she rode in the sunshine, the cold, invigorating sweep of wind from the higher mountains, lifted her eyes and saw how the white clouds piled high above the rich green of the pine woods and how the sky was intensely blue beyond, blue as a dream of the Mediterranean or of the Gulf of Gascony. And returning, toward evening, to her own house, as the blue haze of evening began to intercept and transmute the shapes of things, she smelled the wood from her own hearth fire and thought it as sweet as the incense in the church at Artigues.”
The story is a well-known one, largely thanks to the film “Le Retour de Martin Guerre” (The Return of MG), starring Gérard Depardieu, which I have watched two or three times – and there is a version set in America too. When he is hardly more than a boy, the son of long-established farmers (wealthy ‘paysans’) leaves his young wife and child; eight years later he is back, welcomed by all his family and friends; but in the midst of her new happiness his wife, Bertrande, begins to doubt. He is kind, loving, patient, popular, so utterly unlike the way he used to be . . .
As the story follows the inevitable consequences of Bertrande’s suspicions the interesting question is, “What makes her pursue her doubts, when all is well, and everyone prospers? On the face of it there is the strict Catholic teaching of the day about adultery and punishment; more interesting is Bertrande's emotional reaction to being deceived; then there is the brick-hard dominance of the value of land, grain and money; it is only when the returned husband asks for money that Bertrande’s suspicions are taken up by others.
I thought that the court case that occupies the second part of the book was portrayed as fairer and less distressing than the filmed version, but what impressed me really was the exploration of Bertrande’s uncertainties and moral dilemma. She comes to a personal understanding of the way she must react to the court decision if it goes against her belief, which strengthens her resolve, but, over and above that, the figure that fortifies her is that of her husband’s uncle, the head of the household, who embodies tradition, safety, rectitude; all these things set against doubt and ephemera.
Janet Lewis wrote two more historical novellas, also drawn from real court cases, “The Trial of Sören Qvist”and “The Ghost of Monsieur Scarron”, which I will certainly try to read.
Favourite Quote: I can’t include it becuase it gives away the end, but if you do read this book, look at Janet Lewis’s closing comment in the “Foreward for the First Swallow Press Edition.” Just so, Janet.
“It was the time of year when the grapes were being harvested, and the odor of ripe muscats was in the air. When the wine was made and the leaves on the vine stocks had turned scarlet, Bertrande rode out among valleys that dipped in fire toward Luchon betweeen the irregular advances of the woods, saw the conical haystacks burning with dull gold beside the stone walls of farm buildings, felt, as she rode in the sunshine, the cold, invigorating sweep of wind from the higher mountains, lifted her eyes and saw how the white clouds piled high above the rich green of the pine woods and how the sky was intensely blue beyond, blue as a dream of the Mediterranean or of the Gulf of Gascony. And returning, toward evening, to her own house, as the blue haze of evening began to intercept and transmute the shapes of things, she smelled the wood from her own hearth fire and thought it as sweet as the incense in the church at Artigues.”
The story is a well-known one, largely thanks to the film “Le Retour de Martin Guerre” (The Return of MG), starring Gérard Depardieu, which I have watched two or three times – and there is a version set in America too. When he is hardly more than a boy, the son of long-established farmers (wealthy ‘paysans’) leaves his young wife and child; eight years later he is back, welcomed by all his family and friends; but in the midst of her new happiness his wife, Bertrande, begins to doubt. He is kind, loving, patient, popular, so utterly unlike the way he used to be . . .
As the story follows the inevitable consequences of Bertrande’s suspicions the interesting question is, “What makes her pursue her doubts, when all is well, and everyone prospers? On the face of it there is the strict Catholic teaching of the day about adultery and punishment; more interesting is Bertrande's emotional reaction to being deceived; then there is the brick-hard dominance of the value of land, grain and money; it is only when the returned husband asks for money that Bertrande’s suspicions are taken up by others.
I thought that the court case that occupies the second part of the book was portrayed as fairer and less distressing than the filmed version, but what impressed me really was the exploration of Bertrande’s uncertainties and moral dilemma. She comes to a personal understanding of the way she must react to the court decision if it goes against her belief, which strengthens her resolve, but, over and above that, the figure that fortifies her is that of her husband’s uncle, the head of the household, who embodies tradition, safety, rectitude; all these things set against doubt and ephemera.
Janet Lewis wrote two more historical novellas, also drawn from real court cases, “The Trial of Sören Qvist”and “The Ghost of Monsieur Scarron”, which I will certainly try to read.
Favourite Quote: I can’t include it becuase it gives away the end, but if you do read this book, look at Janet Lewis’s closing comment in the “Foreward for the First Swallow Press Edition.” Just so, Janet.
August 22, 2015
Many of us oldsters recall The Return of Marin Guerre, the 1982 film with Gerard Depardieu which details the return of a man to a family he left years earlier. Few of us know that the film (and its later remake, Sommersby, set in the American Civil War) know that the genesis of the film was the novel The Wife of Martin Guerre, by Janet Lewis. It was one of several historical novels of hers set in medieval France and based on court cases of the time. Lewis herself had a distinguished literary career (of which I knew nothing), and she was married to the famous poet, Yvor Winters, and lived in Palo Alto because he was a fixture at Stanford. Thanks to Dan for directing me to this fine work.
Martin was the son of a stern and dominating father, and he chaffed at being controlled. He and his wife, Bertrande, were married at eleven, though not joined in consummate matrimony till three or four years later. They lived in the Guerre household, but Martin longed to be on his own. One day he stole some seed, said he was going to plant it where he could prove to his father that he was capable of succeeding without him. He promised to return before long, after his father's anger had passed.
The absence lasted seven years. Finally, he returned to his wife and son. However, his wife was suspicious. Especially so after the birth of her second son. Her suspicions trigger the court case on which Lewis bases her novel. Is this man Martin or not?
The difference between the book and the films is that we spend all our story time with Bertrande rather than with Martin. Big difference not only in how the plot goes, but in the suspense and emotion of us readers. And, much as I like Depardieu, all to the better for my money. It's a great tale, well told, and sadly neglected.
Martin was the son of a stern and dominating father, and he chaffed at being controlled. He and his wife, Bertrande, were married at eleven, though not joined in consummate matrimony till three or four years later. They lived in the Guerre household, but Martin longed to be on his own. One day he stole some seed, said he was going to plant it where he could prove to his father that he was capable of succeeding without him. He promised to return before long, after his father's anger had passed.
The absence lasted seven years. Finally, he returned to his wife and son. However, his wife was suspicious. Especially so after the birth of her second son. Her suspicions trigger the court case on which Lewis bases her novel. Is this man Martin or not?
The difference between the book and the films is that we spend all our story time with Bertrande rather than with Martin. Big difference not only in how the plot goes, but in the suspense and emotion of us readers. And, much as I like Depardieu, all to the better for my money. It's a great tale, well told, and sadly neglected.
December 31, 2022
Cualquier lector debería agradecer que Janet Lewis decidiese sumergirse en los procedimientos judiciales en tiempos pretéritos y así escribir sus 'Casos de pruebas circunstanciales'. La grandeza de Lewis como escritora está más que probada aquí: Bertrande de Rols es un personaje memorable, pero es mérito de la autora transmitir al lector con suma maestría todos los conflictos interiores que envuelven el pesar de la protagonista; otros puntos fuertes de la obra son su fabulosa contextualización histórica, la calidad de la escritura y el ritmo vertiginoso que termina adoptando la historia. 'La mujer de Martin Guerre' es un libro extraordinario, porque plantea un dilema moral absoluto de consecuencias incalculables para todos los protagonistas afectados.
September 5, 2014
I read this short novel in a B&B while on holiday at Metung. It's a wonderful book about identity, love, and trust. I saw the film too; it was a rare example of the film being as good as the book.
June 9, 2020
Still a little gem from senior school days.
January 14, 2018
«¿Y si Martin, el extraño de áspera barba, no fuese el verdadero Martin, del que se había despedido con un beso aquel mediodía al borde del campo recién sembrado?»
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