Francois Mauriac, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 1952, was famous for his subtle character portraits of the French rural classes and for depicting their struggles, aspirations and traditions.

The study of a woman whose pious and intense desire to impose her own judgment on others finally brings her world crashing about her.

As Mauriac says the sentiments in these pages, "These are the feelings of one Christian among a thousand others. Such is the invisible God he sees, the hidden God he discerns."

The thinking and suffering of the author of Remembrance of Things Past are intimately exposed in these letters to Mauriac.

"This is Mauriac's first novel, and its appearance in English completes the collected presentation of his works here.

Roman de la damnation, de la prédestination, les Chemins de la mer constitue une sorte de sommet de la noirceur et du pessimisme mauriaciens.