The Cat
  • Published: 6 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781802068962
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 112

The Cat

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An acerbic tale of marital warfare and emotional estrangement, in a brilliant new translation

In the oppressive silence of the sitting room, the woman finally smoothed out the paper and, without putting on her glasses, read the two words her husband had written:

The cat.

Amidst the din of their Parisian neighbourhood, Émile and Marguerite live in total silence. After a hasty marriage in their sixties, their uneasy peace was shattered when Émile’s beloved cat mysteriously disappeared and was later found dead. Branding his wife the culprit, Émile’s retaliation against Marguerite’s cherished parrot sparked a silent battle of wills. Now they live parallel lives, communicating only through spiteful notes, mocking glances and mute accusations. As their suspicion and resentment mount, this bitter game of psychological warfare becomes a twisted necessity, binding them together in a relentless cycle of torment from which there can only be one escape.

First published in 1967, The Cat is a masterful exploration of marital discord, loneliness and the absurdity of human relationships, painting a vivid portrait of two souls trapped in quiet desperation.
  • Published: 6 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781802068962
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 112
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Also by Georges Simenon

Stan the Killer
The Widow Couderc
The Hatter's Ghosts
The New Investigations of Inspector Maigret
The Venice Train
The People Opposite
The Strangers in the House
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Praise for The Cat

A great writer of detail, of atmosphere. His descriptions of Paris influenced me

Leïla Slimani, Financial Times

Irresistible... read him at your peril, avoid him at your loss

Sunday Times

One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories

Guardian

Simenon's skill is such that he never misses a trick in this brilliant study of old age, of obsession and of a human relationship gone wrong. The novel is done with great economy, and the author's psychological perceptions are sharper than ever. It is a remarkable achievement by a remarkable writer

New York Times

The romans durs are extraordinary: tough, bleak, offhandedly violent, suffused with guilt and bitterness, redolent of place . . . utterly unsentimental, frightening in the pitilessness of their gaze, yet wonderfully entertaining

John Banville

The novels brim with atmosphere, insight and intelligence . . . quite unlike anything else written before or since

India Knight, The Times
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