Fire in the Blood

Here is a missing piece of the remarkable posthumous legacy of Irene Nemirovsky, author of the internationally acclaimed "Suite Francaise." The novel-only now assembled in its entirety-teems with the intertwined lives of an insular French village in the years before the war, when "peace" was less important as a political state than as a coveted personal condition: the untroubled pinnacle of happiness. At the center of the tale is Silvio: in his younger years he fled the boredom of the village and made a life of travel and adventure. Now he's returned, living in a farmer's hovel in the middle of the woods, and, much to his family's chagrin, perfectly content with his solitude. As his narration unfolds, we are given an intimate picture of the loves and infidelities, the scandals, the youthful ardor and regrets of age that tie Silvio to the long-guarded secrets of the past.

Review :
"Courageous, uncompromising . . . An entire world, vividly rendered, emerges from [these] pages . . . Nemirovsky sets the tragedies of the plot in motion so unobtrusively, yet so surely, that when they come together the book has the inevitability-and yet the shock-that characterizes the books that mark us . . . If Thomas Hardy were alive to read "Fire in the Blood, " I think he'd recognize Nemirovsky as kin."-Charles Taylor, "Newsday""With startling economy, Nemirovsky telegraphs the prejudices, passions and taboos that govern life in this isolated community . . . Subdued on its surface, but with a tamped-down sensuality that gives it a near-vicious narrative drive, the book has a powerful sting in its tail. Translator Sandra Smith deftly renders its noirish bite into English, giving us a taste of what Nemirovsky the writer was like before history handed her the subject matter that killed her."-Michael Upchurch, "Seattle Times ""Posthumous second acts are tough. But "Fire in the Blood "is an almost perfect miniature, a tale of divided loves and loyalties set in an insular rural French village."-"O: Oprah Magazine" "Exquisitely wrought . . . If you loved the author's "Suite Francaise"-and how could you not?-you'll likewise take to this recently discovered treasure . . . So great is Nemirovsky's reading of the human heart that her tale has the power of myth. And so true does it ring to reality that one could call it not so much a love but a life story."-Edward Cone, "Library Journal "(starred) "Stripped of the backdrop of war, the natural surroundings of "Fire In The Blood" add a depth and resonance to each of the story's characters, whether young or old, male or female. Subtle in its intention, this novella takes humanity in all its guises and captures the deep-seated desire for belonging and understanding." - Anna Millar, "Scotland on Sunday """Fire in the Blood," on which it seems she was still working when she was t