Lettre à mon juge (Letter to My Judge) was written by Belgian author Georges Simenon in 1946 during his stay at Bradenton Beach, Florida and published in Paris the following year by Presses de la Cité.

[citation needed] The novel is a long letter written in prison by condemned murderer Dr. Charles Alavoine.

Alavoine wants to explain his personal side of the story to a judge handling his legal case, as his trial did not reveal the true motives for the crime.

He later married the bourgeois Armande, who, with the tact and style he lacked, was soon dominating his home, medical practice, and all aspects of his life.

At last, able to spend all their time together, their relationship deepened, but in the process exposed the deep psychological flaws in both parties.

The last chapter notes briefly that by the time this confession reached its addressee, Alavoine had committed suicide in the prison infirmary.

He developed the original idea at Bradenton Beach [2] 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.

[5] Alavoine's violence towards his lover stems from Simenon's violent relationship with Denyse, who later recalls that he used to beat her, even while he was writing the novel.

[7] In a letter to André Gide, Simenon wrote, "It took me twelve months to write Act of Passion.

But while Flaubert parodies both ways of life, Simenon clearly takes sides for love in his novel, which in fact can be destructive, but is preferable to a bland middle-class existence at any time.

[11] As seen in numerous other works by Simenon, the novel is also an expression of an urgent need for communication and understanding, which has no place in the judicial process.

[21] It seems Lucille F. Becker will give a negative response to the open-ended question of whether Alavoine gained any understanding through his letter.

The Saturday Review reported, "Perhaps inevitably, Simenon has decided to abandon the static form of the detective story and to write novels about the eternal conflict between good and evil."

On the other hand, in the New York Times Anthony Boucher wrote of Simenon that he was "simply more wordy, more pretentious, and a good deal less effective.

Amongst others, the following actors appeared in the film: Fernandel, Sylvie, Françoise Arnoul, Claude Nollier, Jacques Castelot, and Raymond Pellegrin.

In the film, the moral ambiguity and fatal obsession of the novel become a simple love triangle in which the doctor, played by Fernandel, stands between duty and temptation.

The leading roles were taken by Peter Dirschauer, Else Quecke, Irene Clarin, Ilse Neubauer, and Elisabeth Volkmann.