The Gravediggers' Bread

Dard, although little known in the States, was one of the towering figures of French crime fiction, having put out some 300 or so Books, including 175 in his San-Antonio series. Pushkin Vertigo is publishing in English translation a number of Dard’s solo novels, including this one. This is a French re-imagining of Postman Always Rings Twice with the main character spying a blonde (the undertaker’s wife) and then becoming their employee in the mortuary. Here, too, passion takes over reason and eventually a guilty conscience drives one nearly mad. It’s a fairly short read and succeeds in creating a mood where the protagonist is trapped in a maze with no escape as the walls come ever closer. Thanks to Pushkin for providing a copy for review.

Pushkin Vertigo is in the process of reissuing examples of vintage crime novels that have laid the groundwork for today's thrillers. The Gravedigger's Bread, originally published in the 1950's in France, has been compared to The Postman Always Rings Twice which had been written 10 years previously. Told in the first person, it recounts the story of Blaise, who in later times would have been called a slacker. Not only is he unlikable, even by his own admission, he is opportunistic and lustful. We've seen this story before, but despite a rather dated beginning, it reaches a tight climax and the finale is truly worth the time.

With its imprint "Vertigo", Pushkin Press publishes classic crime novels from all over the world, particularly titles that will interest everyone who wants to learn more about the development of hardboiled/noir stories. Frédéric Dard is one of the key French authors in the genre, and in "The Gravedigger's Bread", he writes from the perspective of the criminal. This guy, Blaise, falls in love with the wife of an undertaker, worms his way into his household by getting a job at his business and ultimately tries to do away with his boss.

The story is full of gloomy noir, and Blaise can be described as a hardboiled criminal- Dard (b. 1921) is clearly playing with the tropes of the genre. This also entails his protagonist, a mean, self-righteous macho, expressing misogynstic views that are utterly unacceptable, but at the same time appear to be rather typical if you look at classic spy novels and private detective stories.

All in all, this is an highly entertaining read that also illustrates how far we've come regarding the portayal of male characters in crime stories (only think of the new Bond vs. the old Bond).

A really good thriller, concerning a man without much luck in life or love, who falls into a job as assistant to an undertaker. That's the life bit sorted, but the love – well, he falls deeply for the man's wife, but she, besides being married, is still seeing her childhood sweetheart when she can. The nearest thing to a flaw here is the fact that you can see the hero as quite old-fashioned and bullish in his "sod them blokes, I'll save you" attitude, but a pitch-black action scene of sorts certainly makes up for anything to its detriment. A really good thriller, and nearly a perfect one. Four and a half stars.

Frédéric Dard was one of the best known French crime writers of the twentieth century. Kudos to Pushkin Vertigo for bringing his classics back to the public. I loved Bird in a Cage and The Gravediggers' Bread is just as good if not better. It's short but intense and I devoured it in a few hours. Blaise is a salesman on his way back to Paris after failing to get a job when he runs into Germaine at the post office of a little village. Her allure makes him accept a position as assistant to an undertaker who also happens to be Germaine's husband. The story could have been a classic from the Nouvelle Vague - dark and full of twists, with unspeakable acts done for love and lust. One little white lie leads to another, bigger one, which leads to an even larger lie. You know Blaise is doomed, but how will it happen? I couldn't stop reading until I found out. And what an ending. Classics are immortal for a reason and this is one great read.

Dard creates some striking moments in this story and shows an admirable economy in his plotting. The 160 pages seem to whizz by and each plot twist is superbly executed, even if you pick up on clues as to where this story is going. I was left feeling very satisfied by the resolution to the novel and felt that it struck some interesting and, at times, provocative points in terms of its characterizations.

A splendidly atmospheric little tale of love,murder and discovery. Set in provincial France one can almost smell the Gauloises. The tale of an objectionable funeral director,his young wife and the chance encounter with our narrator fairly whizzes along starting with our'hero' getting a job at the funeral directors after returning a lost purse and subsequently witnessing the ill treatment of the young wife. He kills his employer having declared his love for the unfortunate wife then things turn really interesting in the subsequent cover up attempts! Entertaining!

Another slice of bijou noir perfection in the excellent Pushkin Vertigo series. As usual I am curtailed by how much I can reveal due to the compact nature of the book, but rest assured, this wicked little tale of jealousy, lust and obsession is just a further demonstration of the singularly brilliant style of Dard. Reminding me a little of The Postman Always Rings Twice, mixed with the darkly psychological edge of Simenon’s standalones, Dard has constructed a taut and claustrophobic tale, and with the backdrop of being set around a funeral parlour, there is an additional little frisson of weirdness too. As with most of Dard’s books, his characters verge on the strongly dislikeable with the inevitable gullible ‘patsy’, the temptation of Eve, and dark passions at its core, and this is a little belter. Highly recommended.

I’m well aware that the layman imagines all sorts of things about our profession. Or rather, he finds it hard to admit it’s an ordinary profession. Yet I can assure you that gravedigger’s bread tastes just the same as other people’s.

Frédéric Dard’s The Gravedigger’s Bread is another well crafted, tightly written noir tale from Pushkin Press’s Vertigo imprint. This is a classic tale of adultery and murder. Think The Postman Always Rings Twice but add more twists and turns as ill-fated lovers attempt to outrun Fate.

Gravediggers bread

This short novel takes us right into the heart of our first person narrator’s life. Blaise Delange, a man with a checkered past, unemployed and desperate, has been funded by a friend in order to seek employment at a rubber factory in a provincial town. By the time Blaise arrives, the job is gone. When Blaise finds a wallet stuffed with 8,000 francs, he considers taking it as a “consolation prize,” but then he thinks about the beautiful, sad, badly-dressed blonde woman who dropped the wallet and decides to return it. The owner is Germaine Castain, the wife of the town’s only undertaker. Blaise visits their depressing home and walks into a scene of marital misery.

Then I went up to the door and drove the yellowish little man back into the interior of his shop. The inside was even more wretched than the outside. It was cramped, dim, lugubrious and it smelt of death.

One look at Achille Castain, an ugly, unhealthy, brutish man old enough to be Germaine’s father, tips Blaise to be careful how he proceeds. Blaise can see that all is not well in the marriage, and so he lies about where he found the wallet. He realises that Germaine can’t possibly love this disgusting man, and yet Achille, rather than treasure a wife that is so much younger and beautiful, abuses her and treats her like an indentured servant. Why did they marry? Why is Germaine, who has no children to consider, staying with this man?

A few hours later, Achille offers Blaise a job, and Blaise, attracted to Germaine and curious about this incongruous marriage, decides to stick around. Turns out that Blaise is a terrific salesman, and soon Blaise, an opportunist, is selling up: talking grieving families into buying fancier coffins which reflect status, guilt, or loss. Achille thinks he knows his customers (after all they all live in this small, dull town), and so he makes the mistake of selling what he thinks the family will spring for, rather than attempt to work on other, latent emotions.

“You see Delange,” he said. We can’t expect anything on the business front here. It will be the second-lowest category and a pauper’s coffin.”

“Why do you foresee that?’

“The fact that it’s the grandfather. That’s ten years now they’ve been spoon-feeding him and changing his sheets three times a day. If they could they’d stick him in the dustbin.”

Soon, there’s an unhealthy, tense, claustrophobic little triangle at the bleak, depressing funeral home with Blaise watching and fantasizing about Germaine, and Achille watching Germaine with suspicions that she has a secret lover….

The Gravedigger’s Bread does not take the conventional path. I thought I knew where the story was headed, but the plot was more complicated, with Fate interacting more capriciously, cynically and cruelly than anticipated.

I’ve read several Dard novels, and here they are in the order of preference:

The Executioner Weeps

The Wicked Go to Hell

Bird in a Cage.

Crush

The King of Fools

The Gravedigger’s Bread goes straight to the top of the list.

Review copy

Translated by Melanie Florence

Frédéric Dard is the master of French Noir and a great respecter of Simenon. The Gravedigger’s Bread is not a long novel, but it is beautifully written and wonderfully atmospheric.

Blaise is a bit of a wastrel. He’s been pushed into applying for a salesman’s job in a rubber factory in a small town outside Paris, but it is of no surprise to himself, or we suspect, anyone else that when he turns up to the factory he is too late and the job has been filled.

Blaise has, what in Scotland we would term ‘a guid conceit of himself’. Too worldly to be drawn into provincial living, he has an eye for a striking lady, so much so that when he sees a beautiful blonde, he will not stop himself from finding out where she lives.

What follows is a beautifully drawn slice of 1950’s French noir. Set in and around a funeral parlour Dard presents us with a ménage a trois in which there can only be one outcome.

Arrogant, cocky and just the tiniest bit insufferable, Blaise uses his masculinity to persuade the blonde that he is the right man for her, despite the fact that he has accepted a job with her husband. There are interesting facets to all three of the characters and though they are all flawed, it is possible for the reader to find empathy with them all at different times.

.Tightly plotted, well executed and full of darkness in both the setting and the mood The Gravedigger’s Bread is a tense and oppressive domestic noir.

Verdict: A tale of lust, obsession and lies, this is a gem of a book which plays with human psychology and draws us into its claustrophobic heart,

Dard is pulpnoir at its finest. Worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Thompson, Brewer and the great John D. Fast paced will written —a man trapped by his passion and fate and a beautiful woman. With twists and turns you wont see coming. Thank you Pushnkin Press for making these books available.