The Krull House (Romans Durs)

A malicious interloper in a quiet family is the catalyst to tragedy, in this unnervingly prophetic tale of small-town groupthink in 1930s Europe.

Twenty-five-year-old Hans Krull, from Germany, is finally visiting the French Krulls: Uncle Cornelius, Aunt Maria, and cousins Anna, Joseph, and Liesbeth. It would be best, they tell Hans, if he concealed his nationality: it’s the 1930s and the family, who owns a grocery, suffers discrimination for their German heritage. Yet nonchalant, charismatic Hans, who takes pleasure in causing discomfort, instead flaunts his Germanness. Then a local girl is raped and murdered, and a terrifying wave of hostility swells against the Krulls. For decades they’ve been living discreetly, hoping to shed their image as sinister foreigners. Now their worst fears are realized. The only answer is for Hans to leave France, to disappear—but will he? With The Krull House, Georges Simenon proves himself not only a fearless explorer of psychological depths, but a social critic with startling prescience.