La neige était sale

The novel was written in Tucson, Arizona, between 2 and 20 March 1948. It was serialized in the weekly La Presse from 22 June 1948 to 24 January 1949 (32 instalments), under the title Monsieur Holst.

It is probably the darkest novel Simenon ever wrote. The action takes place in a city under military occupation: the black market flourishes amid shortages, and a certain Frank Friedmaier enriches himself through a series of shady dealings, while his mother turns their apartment into a brothel.

“One of the best books — indeed, let us say the best — you have written in a long time, which has reassured me about you”: these words, addressed to Simenon by André Gide, the very master under whose authority he had placed himself, were the first of a unanimous chorus of critical praise.

Two years after its publication, Simenon adapted the novel with Frédéric Dard for the Théâtre de l’Œuvre.