"Did you know?"
The prolific, multi-award winning duo of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac wrote dozens of thrillers together, subverting the mechanics of traditional mystery and focusing on unsentimental characters, tension and shocking plot twists. Forsaking the logical investigations typical of pre-war detective fiction, they focused on created disorienting worlds where, as they put it, ‘man is out of place’. For a thriller to really hold the reader under its spell, they argued, it must be less about ‘who’ and ‘why’ and more about ‘how’.
While few English readers know their names, their impact on crime fiction and cinema, in particular, has been considerable. Their novels inspired two of the greatest, and possibly most influential crime films ever made; Les Diaboliques, based on She Who Was No More, adapted and directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot in 1955, and Vertigo, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958.
Clouzot changed several key details for his version of the story—the victim of the murder plot is not the seemingly innocent wife, as in the book, but a tyrannical husband who probably had it coming. Still, the authors praised this liberal adaptation, which they say brought to life in images what“they meant to convey in words.
The film version ended with a request to the audience to keep the details of the plot secret, so as not to spoil others’ enjoyment of the film, as did the first British edition of the book. We’d like to repeat it here:
This amazing novel is a story of suspense and terror so perfectly constructed that not even a hint of the plot can be given away. The publishers respectfully request early readers to resist the temptation to reveal it.
So, where do you go from here?
If you’ve not already read it, you really should give Boileau-Narcejac’s Vertigo a try—another disorienting and heart-stoppingly tense masterpiece.
But if you feel like putting those little grey cells to work on a more traditional murder, Piero Chiara’s The Disappearance of Signora Giulia could be the book for you—a classic mystery from one of the most celebrated Italian writers of the post-war period.
Copyright
Pushkin Vertigo
71–75 Shelton Street
London, WC2H 9JQ
Original Text © by Éditions Denoël, 1952 (Celle qui n’était plus)
Translation by Geoffrey Sainsbury
First published by Pushkin Vertigo in 2015
ISBN 978 1 782271 40 6
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Pushkin Press
Pushkin Vertigo
“Whose dark or troubled mind will you step into next? Detective or assassin, victim or accomplice? Can you tell reality from delusion, truth from deception, when you’re spinning in the whirl of a thriller or trapped in the grip of an unsolvable mystery? You can’t trust your senses and you can’t trust anyone: you’re in the hands of the undisputed masters of crime fiction.
Writers of some of the greatest thrillers and mysteries on earth, who inspired those who followed. Writers whose talents range far and wide—a mathematics genius, a cultural icon, a master of enigma, a legendary dream team. Their books are found on shelves in houses throughout their home countries—from Asia to Europe, and every where in between. Timeless books that have been devoured, adored and handed down through the decades. Iconic books that have inspired films, and demand to be read and read again.
So step inside a dizzying world of criminal masterminds with Pushkin Vertigo. The only trouble you might have is leaving them behind.”
