Irene Nemirovsky Fire In The Blood

[Verbena Reynoso]

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Fire in the Blood is an odd little novella. Nmirovsky writes here about French paysan-life, 'paysan' a term translator Smith makes a point of explicating in a Translator's Note, since it doesn't translate readily into English. Nmirovsky certainly was not of this specifically French "rural social class", and the portrait she offers feels like an outsider's: even where she gets the general atmosphere and characterisation right there seems to be something missing.

The story is narrated by Sylvestre, known as Silvio ("A beautiful woman who was once in love with me thought I looked like a gondolier" and changed it, he explains). He lives alone and seems to have few ambitions left in life, puttering along. But he's hardly alone in this attitude -- the paysans don't seem to like to make things easy and comfortable: It's true: the people around here have a kind of genius for living in the most difficult way possible. No matter how rich they are, they refuse pleasure, even happiness, with implacable determination, wary perhaps of its deceptive promise. The book opens when Silvio's cousin Hlne and her daughter Colette and the rest of the family come over to introduce Colette's fianc. Hlne is prompted to tell the story of how she and and her husband got together. In fact, Franois wasn't her first husband. Though he fell in love with her when she was barely more than a child he waited -- and waited even after she was married off to a wealthy older man, returning only when Hlne's first husband died, true --- or romantically idealised -- love then finally taking its course.

Such a situation isn't that uncommon: even now there's a similar case in the neighbourhood, where mean, rich old Declos married the very young Brigitte. Declos hasn't got long to live, but he still hangs on for the time being .....

Nmirovsky is artful in her presentation, careful in the clues she strews from the first page on. As it will turn out, there are many more secrets and connexions here, but she only very gradually lets on what the various relationships and histories are and were.

Silvio frequently muses about youthful passion -- yes, 'fire in the blood.' He was a wild man in his younger days, too, trying to make his fortune abroad, living in remote places -- a marked contrast to the very quiet, deliberate man he has become.

As he repeatedly notes (and observes), for the young passion can be overwhelming. Tied to the grim old man, it's hardly surprising that Brigitte needs more than he can offer and finds love elsewhere, for example. But she's not the only one to fall for Marc Ohnet .....

Nmirovsky keeps adding the twists -- though, in fact, they've all been foreshadowed -- and the complications that arise from the fire in the blood of the younger generation turn out to have quite a bit to do with the older generation as well. There's tragedy, of course, and scandal, though in this close-knit community the last thing anyone wants is to involve the authorities or anyone from outside: "These people are unbelievable," Franois whispered to me. "They can watch a man being murdered before their very eyes and still not say a word 'to avoid getting involved.' The only strong suggestion from the locals is that those who have gone too far move away .....

Philosophical Silvio tries to put even tragedy in perspective:To me ... well, I've seen so many die. He was a poor, jealous, clumsy lad who's better off where he is. You blame yourself for his death ? The way I see it, the only things to blame are chance and destiny. Your affair with Marc ? Well, you got some pleasure from it. What else do you want ? Of course, even Silvio has his secrets, which, when they are finally all put on the table, help explain his attitude.

Fire in the Blood is a novel full of skeletons in closets (and new mistakes being made) in a closed society that lives by its own rules. It's very cleverly constructed: Nmirovsky does not really leave clues, since the way she presents the information does not allow the reader to figure out the connexions and references before she reveals them, but everything she does reveal has been suggested and hinted at before, often repeatedly; on a second reading one understands exactly why Silvio expresses himself as he does (down to the specific way he phrases some of his sentences), and relates what he does. (Indeed, in some respects the book is better on a second reading, when one can truly appreciate what Nmirovsky has done.)

As a slice of paysan-life Fire in the Blood doesn't feel entirely authentic. The characters and even their actions seem plausible enough, but something in the tone makes the whole feel slightly off. The melodramatic story also is a bit of a burden, as Nmirovsky is very ambitious here but perhaps doesn't take the time that would allow it to unfold more convincingly. Silvio's repeated variations on 'fire in the blood' alone are already annoying, Nmirovsky trying way, way too hard to convey a specific message.

Though there is much to admire here -- especially, in retrospect, its artful construction -- Fire in the Blood remains a relatively minor effort, Nmirovsky having set the bar too high elsewhere (and writing so much more convincingly about her own class).

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