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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

Throughout this translation of Fire in the Blood I have used various terms to express an important concept that recurs in the novel: the paysan. This French term is extremely difficult to translate: "peasant" in English has different connotations and "farmer" is too limited. The "paysan" is not just a farmer, but an entire rural social class, often not necessarily working clss, but still not the "bourgeoisie," middle class, despite some paysans being quite wealthy landowners. Irene Nemirovsky's vivid description of her paysans illustrates the multifaceted subtleties implied in the term and brings them to life for us, her readers. Fire in the Blood is a gem of a novel: compact, and brilliant.

I would like to dedicate this translation to the memory of Malcolm Bowie, distinguished French scholar, mentor, friend.