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Suite Française

By Irene Nemirovsky, Sandra Smith (Translator)

(92)

| Hardcover | 9780676977707

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Book Description

Suite Française is both a brilliant novel of wartime and an extraordinary historical document. An unmatched evocation of the exodus from Paris after the German invasion of 1940, and of life under the Nazi occupation, it was written by the esteemed French novelist Irène Némirovsky as events unfolded around her. This haunting masterpiece has been hailed by European critics as a War and Peace for the Second World War.

Though she conceived the book as a five-part work (based on the form of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony), Irène Némirovsky was able to write only the first two parts, Storm in June and Dolce, before she was arrested in July 1942. She died in Auschwitz the following month. The manuscript was saved by her young daughter Denise; it was only decades later that Denise learned that what she had imagined was her mother’s journal was in fact an invaluable work of art.

Storm in June takes place in the tumult of the evacuation from Paris in 1940, just before the arrival of the invading German army. It moves vividly between different levels of society–from the wealthy Péricand family, whose servants pack up their possessions for them, to a group of orphans from the 16th arrondissement escaping in a military truck. Némirovsky’s immense canvas includes deserting soldiers and terrified secretaries, cynical bank directors and hapless priests, egotistical writers and hardscrabble prostitutes–all thrown together in a chaotic attempt to escape the capital. Moving between them chapter by chapter, this thrilling novel describes a journey hampered and in some cases abandoned because of confusion, shelling, rumour, lack of supplies, bad luck and ordinary human weakness. Cars break down or are stolen; relatives are forgotten; friends are divided; but there are also moments of love and charity. Throughout, whether depicting saintly forbearance or the basest selfishness, Storm in June neither sweetens nor demonizes its characters; unsentimentally, with stunning perceptiveness, Némirovsky shows the complexities that mean no-one is simply a hero or villain.

The second volume, Dolce, is set in the German-occupied village of Bussy. Again, Némirovsky switches seamlessly between social strata, from tenant farmers to the local aristocracy. The focus, however, is on the delicate, secret love affair between a German soldier and the French woman in whose house he has been billeted; the passion, doubts and deceits of their burgeoning relationship echo the complex mixture of hostility and acceptance felt by the occupied community as a whole. Némirovsky is amazingly sensitive in her depiction of changing, often contradictory emotions, but her attention to the personal is matched by her sharp-eyed discussion of small-town life and the politics of occupation. In this myth-dissolving book, the French villagers see the Germans as oppressive warriors, but also as handsome young men, and occupation does nothing to remedy the condescension and envy that bedevil relations between rich and poor.

Quite apart from the astonishing story of its survival, Suite Française is a novel of genius and lasting artistic value. Subtle, often fiercely ironic, and deeply compassionate, it is both a piercing record of its time and a humane, profoundly moving novel.

11 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

Great book!! My sister suggested I buy it while I was in London. I only have the impression that the book wasn't all written by Irene Nemirovsky who died in a concentration camp during World War II. Maybe some one finished it after her death.

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Francesca Lo Coco said on Oct 27, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

This blew me away. This book is so fresh and interesting because it was written during the war, without the benefit of hindsight. I read the appendix first, which transformed the way I approached the novel itself. An astonishing story behind the book, as engaging as the book itself.

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Lunarossa said on May 11, 2009 about the Paperback edition | 1 feedback

1 person find this helpful

book 1 is an excellent, lyrical story of the exodus from Paris ahead of the Nazi army's invasion, following a number of different people and family groups as they leave; book 2 is an account of village life which conveys the mixed attitudes--hatred, camaraderie, love, lust, admiration, etc.-- of Fre ... (continue)

book 1 is an excellent, lyrical story of the exodus from Paris ahead of the Nazi army's invasion, following a number of different people and family groups as they leave; book 2 is an account of village life which conveys the mixed attitudes--hatred, camaraderie, love, lust, admiration, etc.-- of French townspeople and farmers toward their German occupiers, and vice versa, with some overlap of characters from book 1. Made all the more poignant because of the author's subsequent arrest and murder in Auschwitz.
Be sure to read the "Preface to the French Edition," which in my copy is at the end of the book. Then read the Appendix II--Nemirovsky's husband's heart-wrenching and increasingly-frantic correspondence chronicling his frustrated efforts to find and help his wife after her arrest and deportation.

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Lynn said on Jan 17, 2009 | 1 feedback

I read this as it was a recommendation from my daughter and she kindly passed this copy onto me once she had finished with it. I am so glad that she did so because it is such a moving account of the experiences of the everyday lives of French citizens during the Second World War and particularly dur ... (continue)

I read this as it was a recommendation from my daughter and she kindly passed this copy onto me once she had finished with it. I am so glad that she did so because it is such a moving account of the experiences of the everyday lives of French citizens during the Second World War and particularly during the German occupation.
For me this story is particularly poignant because although the author started to write this novel in 1941 she never wrote beyond the first two sections as she died whilst a prisoner of war at Auschwitz. Some sixty five years later the manuscript was rediscovered by Irene Nemirovsky’s daughter and published to receive critical acclaim. Her daughter had always thought it was her mother’s diary that she kept as a memento and it was not until she decided to read the manuscript that she realised it was actually a novel.
The intention had been to write a five part epic saga, however it still works in its incomplete form with just the two sections ‘Storm in June’ and ‘Sweet’.
It is set during the year that France fell to the Germans, the ‘Storm in June set in Paris as the inhabitants flee the city. As transport and distribution collapse while the Germans bomb Paris, the narrative follows several groups of characters as they try to escape the chaos. The second part, ‘Sweet’ takes us to rural France where the inhabitants of a small village are endeavouring to learn to live with the new regime, that has taken over everything they know and love. Both parts have an eclectic cast of characters that despite the disarray all around them manage to find hope and love in the most unexpected places. The novel ends after a scene in which the Germans are celebrating the first anniversary of the occupation of Paris. A bittersweet celebration, the title of ‘ Dolce’ ‘Sweet’ is an ironic but truthful title as bitter emotions bubble away under the surface of this part of the novel. It is interesting that part three, for which notes were written was to be a far more traumatic sequel.
It is a tragedy that Irene Nemirovsky never got to finish this emotional novel of humanity under stress, which I found a compelling read.
For more information please visit my post at LindyLouMac's Book Reviews

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Lindyloumac said on Aug 30, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

I wonder if I have not actually given this book a fair chance. Due to commitments I was only able to read the book in short grabbed moments, on the bus to work, a chapter at bedtime, etc. I could not get into the story in any great detail before dropping the book until another time. The first par ... (continue)

I wonder if I have not actually given this book a fair chance. Due to commitments I was only able to read the book in short grabbed moments, on the bus to work, a chapter at bedtime, etc. I could not get into the story in any great detail before dropping the book until another time. The first part of the Suite, titled Storm in June is where Parisians, rich and poor flee the capital as Germany invades France. The chapters jump from family to family and this is where I found it difficult to keep up with the momentum. I forgot who was who and lost interest due to the muddle of characters. I could understand the thieving, looting and struggle to find food in such desperate times. Also the deception and mistrust and this flavour was portrayed well. In terms of story I much preferred the second part Dolce, the storyline was slower paced focussing on a couple of rich households and one of the poor tenant households. The power-hungry extremely rich who withheld supplies from their tenants who came to despise and steal from them. In contrast, you had the well heeled Lucille married young to a man she did not love and who did not love her. Her husband was a prisoner of war and Lucille lived with her Mother in law who showed resentment particularly when she suspected Lucille of having an affair with the German officer residing in their household. Lucille was depicted as a kind hearted girl but with intelligence. Her friendship with the German officer was 'respectable' even if rather strange during the occupation. Her kindness towards helping others by harbouring one of the tenants who had killed an officer. This act won the affection of her Mother in law who despised the Germans intensely and who was equally prepared to risk all.

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Booketta said on Feb 28, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Perceptive and enlightening study of the human psyche, in all its ugliness and simple shining beauty. A novel which transcends history and time and geography and cultures.

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Fay Ng said on Sep 30, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

Rating:
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English Books
Hardcover 416 Pages
Edition: 1
ISBN-10: 0676977707
ISBN-13: 9780676977707
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Pub date: Apr 11, 2006
Dimensions: 1548 mm x 1032 mm x 258 mm Just how big is that?
Also available as: Paperback, Audio CD and Others
In other languages: other languages 繁體書, 简体书, Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Livros em Português, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Euskal Liburuak