Who Knows?

Guy de Maupassant's short story "Who Knows?" recounts nothing short of a bizarre series of events. Our narrator writes from inside an asylum, where he has committed himself and now recounts what has transpired earlier. We learn that the narrator, a self-proclaimed recluse, has a love of furniture, which he used to decorate his house with. One day, the furniture disappeared under mysterious circumstances and he came across them in the most unexpected place. Yet he is still a long way from discovering how they got there in the first place.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a prolific French writer considered a pioneer in modern short story writing. Maupassant was a protégé of French writer Gustave Flaubert and is known for novels such as A Woman's Life and short stories including "The Horla" and "The Dumpling." Maupassant's stories fall into the Naturalist movement, often depicting social entanglements and complex human fates. They have inspired countless film adaptations including the French-Belgian drama called A Woman's Life (2016).