Suite Francaise

Critics

• A personal history in the making

  Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky Chatto & Windus £16.99, pp416 Irène Némirovsky was the daughter of a wealthy family in pre-Revolution Russia who became a middling-successful literary novelist in French. Unlike her compatriot, Nabokov, her impact ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• More war than peace

  Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, translated by Sandra Smith 403pp, Chatto & Windus, £16.99 On July 11 1942 Irène Némirovsky wrote in her notebook: "The pine trees all around me. I am sitting on my blue cardigan in the middle of an ocean of leaves ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

10 Reviews

• 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 about the Hardcover edition | 1 feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Really glad I persisted with this, although initially quite labourious

  It starts with lots of little vignettes of various people in France, and the way they're affected by the war. Once you get the formula of this and with the seeming lack of any plot it becomes harder to carry on, but... do!

  It really comes into it's own in the second half, and the end notes ma ... (continue)

  It starts with lots of little vignettes of various people in France, and the way they're affected by the war. Once you get the formula of this and with the seeming lack of any plot it becomes harder to carry on, but... do!

  It really comes into it's own in the second half, and the end notes make for fascinating and poignant reading - especially the correspondence between the family and publishers, and the notes by Némirovsky on how she was planning her writing.

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  goldtop said on Jul 20, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your 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

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• English Books
• Audio CD
• ISBN-10: 1846570794
• ISBN-13: 9781846570797
• Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
• Pub date: Feb 01, 2007
• Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover and Others
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, 简体书, Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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• NY Times Notable Book Club (475)
• Ebrei (204)

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