The Lodger

Peter Varnhoven, a Dutch-American, has worked all his adult life for a single company, a confection manufacturer from the Netherlands. As the story opens, Varnhoven has just entered into retirement, a man of eccentric habits (for example, he does not drive a car). He and his land-lady, Catherine Lacombe, gradually fall in love over the course of the narrative which include a small cast of secondary characters.