The Square ; Ten-thirty on a Summer Night ; The Afternoon of Monsieur Andesmas

Marguerite Duras (1914-1996) was one of the major French novelists and playwrights of the twentieth century. This collection contains three of her most important works of fiction from the period increasingly considered her finest and most delicate. The Square - which was later adapted, almost unchanged, into a play - is the perfect novella. It illustrates beautifully her technique for portraying deeper emotions through the description of whatever evokes them; a tender memory, a sunset, an annoyance. Two people meet in a small park, he a travelling salesman, she an afflicted maid-of-all-work, whose duties include minding a small boy and catering to a bad-tempered old woman. As their lives emerge, so do their hopes and dreams; although the man's are already largely in the past. 10.30 On a Summer Night is centered on the plight of a dejected wife who, knowing her husband is having an affair, suddenly surprises a fugitive from justice on the roof. The blending of accident and emotional crisis is skillfully brought to an extraordinary conclusion. The Afternoon of M. Andesmas says much in a few words.The old man hears the village festivities from below his house and draws poignant and vivid conclusions.