The Clemenceau Case (1866) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils.
Partly inspired by his own life, the novel takes the form of a letter
written from prison to a powerful judge. Looking back on his experiences
as an illegitimate child, Pierre Clemenceau provides a scathing critique
of French society for its treatment of women and children. Born out of
wedlock, Pierre Clemenceau is raised by a mother who tells him he has no
father. Clemenceau is educated at a local school until the age of ten,
at which point he is sent to a prominent boarding school for boys.
There, he struggles to make friends and suffers bullying at the hands of
a young American. Tortured day and night, Pierre grows distrustful and
violent, and soon turns to a life of crime. As he relates the story of
his life to a powerful judge, he declares himself innocent due to the
circumstance surrounding his birth, and maintains the following: "My
true crime...for which earthly justice will not pursue me, but for which
I will never pardon myself nor those who impelled me to, is that I have
doubted, and sometimes blushed for my mother." Filled with regret, he
looks for answers from the society that made him doubt his mother in the
first place, a society which allows men to escape the responsibilities
of fatherhood with impunity. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Alexandre Dumas
fils' The Clemenceau Case is a classic of French literature
reimagined for modern readers.
