The most autobiographical of Irene Nemirovsky's novels, The Wine of Solitude explores the troubled relationship between a young girl, her distant, self-absorbed mother and her mother's lover, Max. We follow the family through the Great War and the Russian Revolution, as the young Helene grows from a dreamy, unhappy child into an angry young woman. Through summers in Kiev and the cruel winters of St Petersburg, the would-be writer Helene blossoms, despite her mother's neglect, into a clear-eyed observer of the life around her. This is the story of an upbringing that produces a young woman as hard as a diamond, prepared to wreak a shattering revenge on her mother.