The Dogs and the Wolves

I Nemirovsky

ISBN 10: 0701184825 / ISBN 13: 9780701184827

Published by Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 2009

About this Item

This wonderful, panoramic novel goes right back to Irene Nemirovsky's roots, sweeping the reader from the Jewish quarter of a Ukrainian city in the early years of the twentieth century to Paris in the twenties and thirties, and back again to eastern Europe in a snowy winter on the eve of war. At its heart is a tragic love, between Ada from the poor Jewish quarter and Harry, son of a rich financier. The dogs are the comfortable, assimilated rich Jews up on the hill, while the wolves, their distant cousins, struggle below in the ghetto. Ada grows up motherless, looked after first by her father, then by an indomitable, social-climbing aunt, and eventually moves to Paris with her aunt's family, all of them looking for a brighter future. Ada makes a living in Paris as an artist, painting scenes from the world she has left behind. Her cousin Ben, intense and ferociously intelligent, has loved her for years; they share memories - together they survived the terrible pogroms of their childhood - and he presses her to marry him. But Harry Sinner is also in Paris, moving in exclusive circles, and infatuated with the daughter of a wealthy gentile banker. One day, he buys two paintings which remind him of his past.and the course of Ada's life changes once more. But as recession and revolutions shake previously rich regimes, even a solid international bank can find itself over-extended and vulnerable to greed. Ben, now working for the Sinner family bank in Paris, is well-placed to take the kind of risks he could only dream of in the past. And as summer draws to a close, Ada's world is disintegrating and she is faced with a fateful decision. The Dogs and the Wolves, painted on a broad, vibrant canvas, with Nemirovsky's acute eye for small cruelties and everyday sacrifice, is an achingly poignant novel about blood and belonging, dreams and desire. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Seller Inventory # GOR002334383

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Dogs and the Wolves
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0701184825
• ISBN 13: 9780701184827
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 322 grams

About this title

Synopsis

A wonderful, panoramic novel and an achingly poignant love story that goes back to Irčne Némirovsky's roots, from the bestselling author of Suite Française.

Ada grows up motherless in the Jewish pogroms of a Ukrainian city in the early years of the twentieth century. In the same city, Harry Sinner, the cosseted son of a city financier, belongs to a very different world. Eventually, in search of a brighter future, Ada moves to Paris and makes a living painting scenes from the world she has left behind. Harry Sinner also comes to Paris to mingle in exclusive circles, until one day he buys two paintings which remind him of his past and the course of Ada's life changes once more.

But then recession and revolutions shake previously rich regimes. As summer draws to a close, Ada's world is disintegrating, and she is faced with a fateful decision.


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

IRČNE 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.
From the Hardcover edition.