The Red Collar

"A beautifully memorable and unusual story about war and what it does to us" from the bestselling author and founder of Doctors Without Borders (The Independent).

In 1919, in a small town in the province of Berry, France, under the crushing heat of summer, a war hero is being held prisoner in an abandoned barracks. 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, a young extraordinarily intelligent woman works the land, waiting and hoping. A judge whose principles have been sorely shaken by the war is traveling to an unknown location to sort out certain affairs of which it is better not to speak.


Three characters. In their midst, a dog who holds the key both to their destinies and to this intriguing plot.


Full of poetry and life, The Red Collar is at once a delightfully simple narrative about the human spirit and a profound work about loyalty and love.


"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." —Shelf Awareness

"A graceful, unpretentious little miracle, a morality play of immense skill." —The Irish Times

"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)