Sue Eugène – Arthur (volume 1), newspaper of a stranger: What tragedy took place in this small village removed from Occitanie? A woman, a man, and their child were savagely murdered by a mysterious killer from out of nowhere, who, having lost his fortune, disappeared without a trace. The priest of the village and his sister are still all back … The diary left by Arthur, the victim, can he enlighten us?

Love and Hatred! Arthur, in love, is carried away by the force of his passion and lives without restraint his happiness, his “sunny days” … But this intimacy, this proximity, awakens in him another Arthur, suspicious, reserved, cynical. He imagines low interests in the person he loves, calculations, deception. The scene in which he overwhelms his partner with his suspicions and assumptions – and he immediately regrets them – is so hurtful, so contemptuous that the bond is forever broken. The repetition of these scenarios will be his misfortune.

With Lautréamont (1937), Arthur marks a turning point in the work of Eugène Sue. He goes from the adventure novel, especially maritime, to novels of manners. He will soon tackle the social question in his major works, The Mysteries of Paris and The Wandering Jew.