Irène Némirovsky: Four BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatisations

The Dogs and the Wolves, Jezebel, The Misunderstanding and Dolce from the Suite Française Series

By: Irène Némirovsky

Narrated by: Sarah Smart, Joseph Kloska, Frances Barber, Sian Thomas, Eve Best, Carl Prekopp, Graeme Hawley, Anna Francolini, Natalie Grady, full cast

BBC radio adaptations of four acclaimed works from the bestselling Ukrainian-born author Irène Némirovsky

Best known for her posthumously published novel Suite Française, Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903. Her family fled the Russian Revolution for Paris, where she found fame as a novelist. But when the Nazis occupied France, she was arrested as a Jew and sent to Auschwitz, where she died aged just 39. This collection includes four of her best works, dramatised for radio with a full cast.

The Misunderstanding - Scarred by war, Yves returns to the Spanish resort of his childhood. There he meets beautiful, bored Denise, and the duo embark on an affair. But their love is challenged by mutual misunderstanding. Described as Némirovsky's Madame Bovary, this compelling tale of passion and regret stars Sarah Smart and Joseph Kloska.

Jezebel - 1935, and Gladys Eysenach, a beautiful, elegant woman obsessed with her lost youth, is on trial for shooting dead her much younger lover. Delving into her past, she recounts the key events that led to the murder. Frances Barber stars as Gladys, with Anna Francolini as Némirovsky.

Dolce - In 1941, a German regiment is billeted in a French village. In the Angellier household two warring women pack away their valuables and prepare to meet the enemy. An adaptation of the second, standalone volume of Némirovsky's masterpiece, Suite Française, this searing depiction of France under German occupation stars Sian Thomas, Eve Best, Deborah Findlay and James D'Arcy.

The Dogs and the Wolves - Growing up during the Jewish pogroms in Ukraine, Anna falls in love with her rich cousin, Harry Sinner. But her poor cousin, Ben, is in love with her. When both families move to Paris, Ada becomes an artist, while Harry moves in elite French society. Then one day, he sees two of Ada's paintings, and her life is changed forever... Sarah Smart stars as Ada, with Carl Prekopp as Harry and Graeme Hawley as Ben, in Némirovsky's epic tale of family, finance and fate.

First published 1926 (The Misunderstanding), 1937 (Jezebel), 2006 (Dolce), 2009 (The Dogs and the Wolves)

Cast and credits

Written by Irène Némirovsky

Translated by Sandra Smith

The Misunderstanding

Cast: Joseph Kloska, Sarah Smart, Charlotte Sienna Lee, Jake Ferretti, Evan Jones, Rupert Hill, Emma Gregory

Dramatised by Lin Coghlan

Directed by Pauline Harris

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21-25 January 2019

Jezebel

Cast: Frances Barber, Anna Francolini, Natasha Cowley, David Sterne, Keziah Joseph, Victoria Brazier, Conrad Nelson, Ellen Dryden, John Catterall, Ashley Margolis

Dramatised by Ellen Dryden

Produced and directed by Pauline Harris

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7-11 November 2016

Dolce

Cast: Sian Thomas, Eve Best, Deborah Findlay, James D'Arcy, Alex Tregear, Stuart McLoughlln, Teresa Gallagher

Adapted by Penny Leicester

Produced and directed by Di Speirs

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14-18 August 2006

The Dogs and the Wolves

Cast: Anna Francolini, Sarah Smart, Carl Prekopp, Graeme Hawley, Sydney Wade, Ellis Hollins, Ben Hanley, Will Tacey, Olwen May, Fiona Clarke, Natalie Grady, Will Tacey

Dramatised by Ellen Dryden

Produced and directed by Pauline Harris

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10-14 June 2013

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