Thérèse

by François Mauriac

"Thérèse" by François Mauriac is a novel published in 1927. Set in rural southwest France, it follows Thérèse Desqueyroux after she stands trial for poisoning her husband Bernard with arsenic. Though evidence against her is strong, the case is dismissed when her family intervenes to avoid scandal. During her journey home, Thérèse reflects on her suffocating life as a Catholic landowner's wife and tries to understand what drove her actions—yet neither she nor the narrator offers a clear explanation.