The Red Collar
By (Author) Jean-Christophe Rufin
Translated by Adriana Hunter
Europa Editions
Europa Editions
1st August 2015
United States
General
Fiction
843.92
Paperback
160
Width 135mm, Height 210mm
During the torrid Summer of 1919, in a small French town, a war hero is imprisoned in a disused barracks, accused of a grave act of provocation towards the French nation and its army. The magistrate in charge is an aristocrat and veteran of the battle of the Somme, whose values have been deeply shaken by war. As a heatwave crushes the town, the magistrate strives to understand the war hero's motivation. Will he be able to piece together the story of the war hero and his inseparable companion, a loyal dog
Praise for The Red Collar
"The Red Collar is a superbly crafted little gem that does everything a novel can do in less than 150 pages [. . .] It's a lucky reader who gets to experience the power of The Red Collar."
--ShelfAwareness
"Rufin has written a graceful, unpretentious little miracle, a morality play of immense skill."
--The Irish Times
"The Red Collar has surprising narrative tension, an atmosphere that is at once breathless and brooding, and the resonance of fine poetry."
--Books & Beats, KUER Radio
"A beautifully memorable and unusual story about war and what it does to us."
--The Independent (UK)
"What does it mean to fight for what one loves To act out of loyalty Or out of solidarity In The Red Collar, a delicate and poetic novel, Rufin examines that which makes us human."
--L'express (France)
"Without special effects, with simplicity and the pure pleasure of telling a story, Jean-Christophe Rufin explores the meaning of faithfulness, loyalty, and honor."
--Le Figaro (France)
"Rufin is at his best when evoking the complex blend of political convictions and ideologies that intermingled, sometimes violently, on the front lines."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The Red Collar may be short but it is a engaging story perceptively told in limpid prose, beautifully translated by Adriana Hunter."
--We Love This Book
Jean-Christophe Rufin is one of the founders of Doctors Without Borders and a former Ambassador of France in Senegal. He has written numerous bestsellers, includingThe Abyssian, for which he won the Goncourt Prize for a debut novel in 1997. He also won the Goncourt prize in 2001 forBrazil Red. Adriana Hunter is a British translator of French literature. She has translated more than fifty French novels including Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb and The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa. She was awarded the 2011 Scott Moncrief Prize for her translation of Veronique Olmis Beside the Sea.