When she was writing Suite Française
in 1940, Némirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942 before turning 40, was also reworking this novel, newly discovered among her papers. Though composed on a smaller canvas, it is another keenly observed study of human nature, and in this case of Burgundy paysans
. In a leisurely narrative, middle-aged narrator Silvio recounts three interlocking stories of love and betrayal over two decades. These secret affairs, he says, can be explained only by “fire in the blood,” the intense passion that can overtake men and women when they are young, highly sexed and vulnerable. Silvio's laconic descriptions of unappeasable desire are seasoned by bitter assessment of the wisdom earned after things cool. Linked through blood and common local history, the characters in this la ronde
of betrayal exist in a seemingly idyllic community that is always alert for deviations from the social code. Némirovsky's restraint in unfolding her story contributes to the emotional crescendo at the story's denouement. In its penetrating distillation of manners and mores, this spare and elegant book makes a worthy follow-up to Suite
. (Oct.)
Details
Reviewed on: 09/03/2007
Genre: Fiction
Compact Disc - 978-1-4159-4335-9
Compact Disc - 3 pages - 978-0-7393-5776-7
Downloadable Audio - 1 pages - 978-1-4159-4336-6
Hardcover - 152 pages - 978-0-7011-8183-3
Hardcover - 278 pages - 978-1-59722-619-6
Hardcover - 160 pages - 978-0-676-97980-0
Open Ebook - 176 pages - 978-1-4070-9207-2
Open Ebook - 75 pages - 978-0-307-49545-7
Open Ebook - 978-0-307-37072-3
Other - 978-0-307-26782-5
Paperback - 160 pages - 978-0-307-38800-1
Paperback - 160 pages - 978-0-676-97981-7
