Dogs and the Wolves

Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903, the daughter of a Jewish banker. In 1918 her family fled the Russian Revolution for France where she became a bestselling novelist, author of David Golder, Le Bal, The Courilof Affair, All Our Worldly Goods and other works published in her lifetime or soon after, as well as of the recent posthumously published Suite Française and Fire in the Blood. The Dogs and the Wolves, now appearing for the first time in English, was published in France in spring 1940, just months before France fell to the Nazis. Némirovsky died in Auschwitz in 1942.

"Written with tremendous assurance and finesse, The Dogs and the Wolves is an outstanding achievement of European fiction" Sunday Times "The pleasure of this fine novel lies in its depiction of a doomed love affair... Nemirovsky's exquisite descriptions of character reveal a brilliantly sharp eye" Daily Telegraph "Nemirovsky was incapable of producing anything less than an enchanting novel. She has an irresistible talent for creating character and incident which makes this story as much a page-turner as anything she has written" -- Carmen Callil Guardian "Nemirovksy is a deeply engaged observer of her characters, and her depiction of the inner lives of both Jews and Gentiles in Sandra Smith's admirable translation of this exquisitely detailed novel, has the fine, authentic ring of artistic truth" Sunday Telegraph "She elegantly uses traditional orchestration, which makes her works, for all their weighty concerns, universally accessible and stirringly romantic" Independent