A very lovely read. This is possibly one of my favorite books ever. I love the way Nemirovsky describes the village of Issy L'Eveque and the way she portrays its inhabitants. They seem very real. I love the way Silvio reflects on his past in a quiet but poignant way. Her writing is so much like Flaubert but different.

My full review: http://daysreading.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

You can read my entire review on my Jew Wishes website. http://jewwishes.wordpress.com/2007/1...

Nemirovsky brings us a story line with three distinct women seeking peace, happiness and love. How their lives intertwine, and how their love and betrayals interweave is told brilliantly by Nemirovsky, through word imagery that heightens our senses, bringing us flashes of country scents, food for the soul…warm soup , time and place in the countryside of France.

The old cliche that “blood is thicker than water“, holds true regading the adult children in this novel. They display the same “fire in the blood“, the same passion as their mother did. The “fire” has been passed down from one generation to the next, ignited and blazing full force, slowly turning into burning embers on a pyre, in the flicker of time, until the last remnants of ash turn to darkness.

Nemirovsky was extremely cognizant of the culture and mores of the era pre-World War I. Her novel is a brilliantly told story, and a sentient reflection on country life, the light and eventual darkness, the fire and the eventual defusing of the embers. ( )

Fire in the Blood is set in a small village based on Issy-l’Eveque between the two world wars. The narrator is Silvio looking back on his life and gradually secrets that have long been hidden rise to the surface, disrupting the lives of the small community. The people are insular, concerned only with their own lives, distrusting their neighbours. All Silvio wants now is a quiet life, but he cannot avoid being drawn into helping Colette, his cousin Helene’ s daughter, when her husband Jean is found drowned in the mill stream.

Although only a short book (153 pages) it is an intense story of life and death, love and burning passion. It’s about families and their relationships - husbands and wives, young women married to old men, lovers, mothers, daughters and stepdaughters. Silvio in his old age feels rejected by life and lonely. In his youth he had travelled the world, seeking his fortune, propelled by the fire in his blood. Now his passions are extinguished and he no longer knows who he is.

The characters are drawn with simplicityand detachment, but this is deceptive as there are layers upon layers and there is a brooding, silent and haunting atmosphere, almost menacing as the truth emerges. Added to this is the writing itself full of rich descriptive passages of the land and the people.

It is indeed a gem of a book ( )

A tightly written, neat "what goes around comes around" scenario with a knowing narrator commenting on the shenanigans both modern and ancient of his extended family. The passions and rashness of youth... ( )

Fire in the Blood is based on the premise that when people are young, the fire in their blood drives them to do things that are out of character with their real natures and affect the rest of their lives. It is set in a small village inhabited by pragmatic, mercenary, cynical, secretive people.

A young man is murdered and gradually the secrets of the past are revealed. ( )