Suite Francaise

A Novel

By: Irene Nemirovsky

Narrated by: Daniel Oreskes, Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Irene Nemirovsky was arrested soon after completing the second part of Suite Francaise. Ten days later, on August 17, 1942, she died of typhus in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her husband, Michel, perished in a gas chamber on November 6. Their daughters, Denise and Elizabeth, survived, hidden in safe houses and convents, carrying a suitcase packed with clothes, photographs, and their mother's manuscript written in tiny letters to save paper. For years, both girls thought it was a journal and couldn't bear to read it. Then, in the late 1980s, Denise began transcribing it with the help of a magnifying glass.

Part One, "A Storm in June", is set in the chaos and mayhem of the massive 1940 exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion. Part Two, "Dolce", opens in the provincial town of Bussy during the first influx of German soldiers. Each part features a rich cast of characters, people who never should have met, but come to form ambiguous relationships as they are forced to endure circumstances beyond their control.

Translated by Sandra Smith.

©2004 Editions DENOEL; 2006 Sandra Smith (P)2006 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2007

"A finely made work of fiction that portrays occupied France with both severity and sympathy....Written with extraordinary detachment by a woman who seemed to know that her own days were numbered." (The New York Times)

Thought provoking but felt unfinished

This book is highly engaging, and very well written. The picture it paints of life during WW2 is unique and powerful. This book is intriguing and gripping, but at the end it felt unfinished. It felt as if the characters whom I'd come to care about, were left with their stories not completely told.

The best book I've read all year

What a wonderful writer -- and what a marvelous translation! I just loved these two connected novellas and have recommended them to all of my book-loving friends. They're beautifully read by narrators who have sense enough to inflect the story but ultimately to disappear. Just a lovely, lovely book, although there is additional material in the print edition that the recording ought to have included.

Nemirovsky's Letters

I enjoyed the reading of Suite Francaise but I think readers may be a bit disappointed to find that the personal correspondence letters of the author before she is taken away to the camps are not present in the audiobook version, though we hear about them in the introduction. I suppose it is because audiobooks don't usually contain appendices and that is where the letters are in the text version.

Beautiful and Poignant

These are beautifully written stories about the exodus of Paris when the Germans invaded France in 1940, and about village life during the German occupation. Richly detailed, full of irony and with much attention paid to the subtleties of class interactions during those turbulent times, they demonstrate the author's vast talent and the world's great loss when she died at the hands of the Nazis.

Unfortunately one of the readers, Rosenblat, disappoints. The emotions depicted by her vocal tones often conflict with those indicated by the text. Better to read the text in a normal voice than dramatize inaccurately. Allow us, the "readers", to interpret the text for ourselves.

Did not live up to my expectation

Would you try another book from Irene Nemirovsky and/or Daniel Oreskes and Barbara Rosenblat ?

Both narrators did a phenomenal job, but could not save the book.

Would you recommend Suite Francaise to your friends? Why or why not?

I would not recommend this book, as I could barely get through it myself. I was considering returning the book after about 1 hour of listening, as I could not keep track of too many characters, introduced too quickly. In fact, at the end of part one I still was confused about who was who. Frankly, I did not care deeply about anyone (I need to care about at least 1 character in order to enjoy a book). I do think the writer had a great potential and a great talent to describe human emotions, scenery, and almost imperceptible subtleties of human interactions. But, with so many characters, it was very difficult to keep up.

Was Suite Francaise worth the listening time?

Hard to say. The book definitely is a historical treasure, a first hand account of events. It peeked my interest in French history. However, enjoyment was minimal and frustration ran high.

Magnificent

I have read many books about war-time France, but never one like this one. To hear the story from one who lived it is an experience - which is what the book is. It is not war-time plots, spying or battle it is war-time living and the relationships that the people envolved develope with their own and with the enemy.

Not the meaningful book I anticipated

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Because of the story of its writing and discovery, I had anticipated a novel of real significance. Instead, it was a somewhat interesting read about the emptying out of Paris when the Germans first arrived during WWII.

Sweet Melancholy

This is one of the best books I have read in a while. The story of the author is as interesting as the book itself. In 1942, after fleeing Paris to a small town in France, the author, Irene Nemirovsky, was captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died of typhus. She left behind leaving two young daughters and a husband (who was also killed in the concentration camps). For years her daughters carried the unfinished manuscript in a suitcase as they fled the Nazis, too afraid and hurt to look at it. 60 years later, her eldest daughter published this extraordinary account of the early war years in France to wide critical acclaim. Lucid portrayals of human relationships, descriptions of dreamy landscapes turned muddy from bombs, and an incredibly poignant ability to show human nature truthfully make this a must read. Ms. Nemirovsky had the uncanny and scary ability to write with such depth and reflection about the events that were unfolding around her. Truly one of the best modern writers.

Feel the terror of occupation

In two novellas, Storm in June & Dolce, Nemirovsky skillfully brings the reader into the world of civilians under German occupation in France in 1940 & 1941. The first work follows several individuals as they flee Paris in the ahead of the German advance. This work captures the confusion, panic, divided loyalties, prejudices showing through patriotism, the impact of stress. In short sketches, Nemirovsky provides the reader with a sense of the motivations driving the many characters, how they react to a completely novel and often terrifying situation. In Dolce, Nemirovsky focuses her gaze on a small town under German occupation several months later, with a new & smaller set of characters. This work provides a sympathetic appreciation of how difficult it is to naturally maintain patriotic fervor in the rhythm of everyday life, while at the same time showing that individuals can rise above this everyday situation to demonstrate heroism against the occupying forces. Although this work was penned nearly 70 years ago, they speak powerfully today.

Surviving

A lovely novel that intertwines the stories of several French citizens and their efforts to survive the Nazi invasion and occupation. Nemirovsky does a fine job of conveying the hardships of day-to-day living for her well-drawn characters.