François Mauriac’s Thérèse Desqueyroux was published in 1927 at a time when the author was undergoing a religious crisis the details and resolution of which he deals with in Souffrances et bonheur du chrétien [Sufferings and happiness of the Christian] published in 1931. It is one of a number of novels he wrote between 1922 and 1932 portraying a negative image of the bourgeois family in his native Bordeaux region. For the bourgeois family portrayed by Mauriac, property and wealth are dominant preoccupations. Behaviour is marked by conformity to conventions and maintenance of appearances. The practice of religion is also primarily an adherence to external practice and convention. …
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Citation: O'Dwyer, Michael. "Thérèse Desqueyroux". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 June 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24189, accessed 06 February 2023.]
