In 1919, in a small town in the province of Berry, France, under the sweltering temperatures of summer heat wave, a war hero is being held prisoner in an abandoned barrack. In front of the door to his prison, a mangy dog barks night and day. Miles from where he is being held, in the French countryside, an intelligent young woman works the land, waiting and hoping. And a military investigating officer, whose principles have been sorely shaken by the war, must complete his last assignment before returning home. Three characters. In their midst, a dog holds the key both to their futures and to this intriguing plot.
Full of poetry and life, The Red Collar is at once a pleasingly straightforward narrative about the human spirit and a profound work about loyalty and love.
Jean-Christophe Rufin
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, including The Abyssian, for which he won the Goncourt Prize for a debut novel in 1997. He also won the Goncourt prize in 2001 for Brazil Red.