Suite Francaise - Hardcover

Nemirovsky, Irene; Sandra Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701178965 ISBN 13: 9780701178963

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2006

Synopsis

In 1941, Irene Nemirovsky sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through, not in terms of battles and politicians, but by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. She did not live to see her ambition fulfilled, or to know that sixty-five years later, "Suite Francaise" would be published for the first time, and hailed as a masterpiece. Set during a year that begins with France's fall to the Nazis in June 1940 and ends with Germany turning its attention to Russia, "Suite Francaise" falls into two parts. The first is a brilliant depiction of a group of Parisians as they flee the Nazi invasion and make their way through the chaos of France; the second follows the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation who find themselves thrown together in ways they never expected. Nemirovsky's brilliance as a writer lay in her portrayal of people, and this is a novel that teems with wonderful characters, each more vivid than the next. Haughty aristocrats, bourgeois bankers and snobbish aesthetes rub shoulders with uncouth workers and bolshy farmers. Women variously resist or succumb to the charms of German soldiers. However, amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy and compromise, there is hope. True nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places. Irene Nemirovsky conceived of "Suite Francaise" as a four- or five-part novel. It was to be a symphony - her "War and Peace". Although, only two sections were finished before her tragic death, they form a book that is beautifully complete in itself, and awe-inspiring in its understanding of humanity.

About this title

Review

`a very special novel, with an uncommonly moving story behind, as well as within its pages' -- The Independent

`beautifully written, humane and wise' -- Anne Chisholm, Sunday Telegraph

"Ecstatically received by French critics, and reawakened the controversy about wartime collaboration." -- London Review of Books

"Literary sensation of the year, magnificent." -- The Times

"[The] most universally praised book this year ... [Nemirovsky's]
unforgettable voice is all her own" -- Times

"an astonishing piece of work ... remarkable for being written at
the time of the events described" -- Spectator

"one book I have already given as a present this year" -- Harper's Bazaar

'...a searing depiction of France under German occupation, written in 1942 before her arrest and death in Auschwitz.' -- Radio Times

A `Book of the Year', as chosen by Jacqueline Rose. -- Jacqueline Rose, The Observer. *

`a triumph of both human indomitability and literary genius' -- Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times.

From the Publisher

A major event – the first publication of a lost masterpiece written in 2nd WW France and telling the spellbinding story of a group of characters living under Nazi occupation.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0701178965
• ISBN 13: 9780701178963
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416