IRÈNE NÉMIROVSKY was born in Kiev in 1903 into a wealthy banking family and emigrated to France during the Russian Revolution. After attending the Sorbonne, she began to write and swiftly achieved success with her first novel, David Golder, which was followed by The Ball, The Flies of Autumn, Dogs and Wolves and The Courilof Affair. She died in 1942.

ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S 15 BOOKS YOU WON'T REGRET RE-READING

"Stunning.... A tour de force." --The New York Times Book Review

"Remarkable." --Newsweek

"An incisive, heartbreaking portrait of a small French town under seige, and the people trying to survive, even to live, as Hitler's horrors march closer and closer to their doors.... A masterpiece of observation and character study, a standout of Holocaust literature." --New York

"[Némirovsky] sees the fullness of humanity.... A lost masterpiece." --O, the Oprah Magazine

"Gripping.... Brilliant.... Endlessly fascinating." --The Nation

"Transcendent, astonishing.... The last great fiction of the war." --The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Superb." --The Washington Post Book World

"Extraordinary.... A work of Proustian scope and delicacy, by turns funny and deeply moving." --Time

Publisher: Vintage

Pub date: 2007-04-10

Length: 448 pages