The Courilof affair

By Irène Némirovsky

Subjects: Physicians, Assassins, Legislators, Historical fiction, Fiction, History

Description: In 1903 Lǒn M - a devout terrorist - is given the responsibility by the Revolutionary Committee of publicly "liquidating" Valerian Alexandrovitch Courilof, a notoriously brutal and cold-blooded minister. Posing as his newly appointed personal physician, Lǒn M is made privy to the inner world of Courilof - his failing health, his troubled domestic situation and, most importantly, the tyrannical grip that the Czar himself holds over all his ministers, forcing them to obey him or suffer the most deadly punishments.