but in the process exposed the deep psychological flaws in both parties. As he learned how bruised and vulnerable she was from past troubles, Alavoine beat Martine in the name of exorcising his own "phantoms" of jealousy. One night, he decided that the only way to end this descending spiral into depravity was to strangle her. Alavoine claims in retrospect that the act of murder really had the effect of killing Martine's "Other" while allowing the "real" Martine that he created to live on in him. The last chapter notes briefly that by the time this confession reached its addressee, Alavoine had committed suicide in the prison infirmary. Background Act of Passion is one of the first novels Simenon wrote after emigrating to the US. Before this novel he wrote Trois Chambres à Manhattan, Maigret à New York, Au bout du rouleau and Le Clan des Ostendais in the first half of the year 1946. He then took a break of 6 months, which, according to Pierre Assouline, was a clear sign that a Simenon classic was in the offing. In writing this novel Simenon broke new ground, not only by choosing to use a first person narrator. He developed the original idea at Bradenton Beach at the beginning of November, writing the final version, according to Patrick Marnham, "in Florida's oppressive December heat", sitting at his typewriter dressed only in a few sweat bands. As with his first American novel, Trois Chambres à Manhattan, Simenon's inspiration for Act of Passion was rooted in his passionate affair at the end of 1945 with the French-Canadian Denyse Ouimet, who was later to become his second wife. Alavoine shares many of the characteristics of Simenon himself, who was also troubled by the phantasms of jealousy. The character of Martine, although she comes from Lüttich, as did Simenon, was modelled on Denyse and she even has a scar from an old operation on her abdomen. The asexual nature of Alavoine's wife reminds us of the same trait in Simenon's first wife, Tigy. Likewise, Alavoine's dominant mother is a reflection of Simenon's own mother. It is typical for Simenon to distill the darker moments from his own life into a fictional story. Alavoine's violence towards his lover stems from Simenon's own violent relationship with Denyse, who later recalls that he used to beat her, even whilst he was writing the novel. According to Patrick