Suite Francaise | 
|  | | | Title: | Suite Francaise | | Author: | Irene Nemirovsky | | Publisher: | Vintage | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 10 April, 2007 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 1400096278 / 9781400096275 | | List Price: | $14.95 | | You Save: | $4.78 | | Amazon Price: | $10.17 | |
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Product Description
Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.
When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died. For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.
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Customer Reviews:
• One Of The Best, By Far. 27 September, 2008
When a friend handed me her copy of Suite Francaise my first thought was that it would not be my sort of thing, with its 1940's movie character cover and "secret manuscript hidden away by author's daughters for more than 60 years" backstory. How wrong I was! This is one of the very best books I've ever read. It is so beautifully translated that you catch your breath over its wonderful phrasing, elegant descriptions, perfectly paced plot, and characters all too human. Impossible to overstate the emotional impact of the loss of this powerful writer to the evil Nazi regime.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A249G4SVEWV9UX
• Wanted More And More!! .such A Tragedy She Is Gone... 06 October, 2008
A book like this only comes around once in a while and touched me greatly and even though the author died tragically at Auschwitz in 1942 she will be in my memory forever.. Thank god her daughter got this book published. I fell in love with all the characters who were written so vividly I thought I was there...So descriptive, with both humor and sadness. The next part "Captive" was not yet written only in bits and pieces before her death. I cried on the last two pages regarding her life and death. Such a talented writer. Rest in peace Irene..
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2GXA7HUGP1XWA
• Good Prose, Surprisingly Heartwrenching Appendix 25 September, 2008
There are many reviews already, so suffice it to say I believe she had talent and am interested in reading a novel she had time to finish.
If you read this novel, do not overlook Appendix II, which contains letters written by Irene, her husband and their friends and family. It will break your heart what they went through when the Nazis came for them.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3LFYQK5HJOSCI
• Subtle, Powerful, Unfinished - An Astonishing Survival 29 September, 2008
Perhaps the miracle of this manuscript is that it survived the internment and death of its author and all the mischances of World War II to achieve publication. Even in its unfinished condition (only two sections out of the author's intended three or four), this novel paints an unforgettable portrait of France in defeat.
The first section, Storm in June, follows a number of people who flee Paris ahead of the German Army. The author hopscotches from character to character, trying to show the reaction of many different classes and types of people. The most poignant story was that of a middle-class, middle-aged couple who both work at the same bank. They report to the bank as ordered, only at the last minute the bank director decides to take his mistress in his car so he tells the couple that they are to report to Tours tomorrow or face losing their jobs! They have to walk and their faith with one another and their worry about their son in the army makes for affecting reading.
The second section, Dolce, is set in a farming community under occupation. The tensions between the occupiers and the occupied are deftly delineated. The subtle choices faced by those who willingly collaborate and those who do so reluctantly are played upon. The author does this in such human terms, showing the relationship that grows step by step between Lucille, a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a man now held captive, and the German officer quartered with her and her mother-in-law.
These two sections, plus some of the author's notes, are all we have--this in itself is a tragedy and waste of war. Had this novel been finished we would be hailing it as one of the supreme works of literature. As it stands, it is like a great cathedral gutted by a bomb. The ruined shell still soars to heaven, a reminder of the human spirit triumphing despite human destructiveness.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A18ZOHJ7ZERQ8
• Suite Francais Is A Masterpiece! 16 September, 2008
The setting is 1940 France amid the German occupation. Ms. Nemirovsky and her family were caught in the middle of the French people fleeing the occupied territory. She tells the tale with beautiful imagery and descriptions, not making monsters of the German overlords who made their lives so difficult. What is even more amazing is that this novel was finished when Ms. N was sent to Auschwitz. She never left. Even though she was a French citizen, the Nazis used her Jewish roots against her and stifled one of the most gifted writers I have ever had occasion to read. This novel was hidden for about 60 years, and only recently was published to critical acclaim. A great read that tells the tale of a city, and a people, occupied--but now overthrown.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2ZYZGMCMMRCK
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