Suite Française

{ NOV 2021 - Verified ebook for complete book description, cover, table of contents, separation of book (front/ back matter, parts, and chapters), and epub format error checking. } Paperback, 431 pages Published: 2004 Edition: Vintage (2006) Greatest Books (amalgamated list of best books) Translated by: Sandra Smith 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. The first two stories of a masterwork once thought lost, written by a pre-WWII bestselling author who was deported to Auschwitz and died before her work could be completed. By the early l940s, when Ukrainian-born Irne Nmirovsky began working on what would become Suite Franaisethe first two parts of a planned five-part novelshe 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: a month later she was dead at the age of thirty-nine. Two years earlier, living in a small village in central Francewhere she, her husband, and their two small daughters had fled in a vain attempt to elude the Nazisshe'd begun her novel, a luminous portrayal of a human drama in which she herself would become a victim. When she was arrested, she had completed two parts of the epic, the handwritten manuscripts of which were hidden in a suitcase that her daughters would take with them into hiding and eventually into freedom. Sixty-four years later, at long last, we can read Nmirovsky's literary masterpiece The first part, "A Storm in June," opens in the chaos of the massive 1940 exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion during which several families and individuals are thrown together under circumstances beyond their control. They share nothing but the harsh demands of survivalsome trying to maintain lives of privilege, others struggling simply to preserve their livesbut soon, all together, they will be forced to face the awful exigencies of physical and emotional displacement, and the annihilation of the world they know. In the second part, "Dolce," we enter the increasingly complex life of a German-occupied provincial village. Coexisting uneasily with the soldiers billeted among them, the villagersfrom aristocrats to shopkeepers to peasantscope as best they can. Some choose resistance, others collaboration, and as their community is transformed by these acts, the lives of these these men and women reveal nothing less than the very essence of humanity. Suite Franaise is a singularly piercing evocationat once subtle and severe, deeply compassionate, and fiercely ironicof life and death in occupied France, and a brilliant, profoundly moving work of art. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control during World War II —a heartrending "portrait of a small French town under seige, and the people trying to survive, even to live, as Hitler’s horrors march closer and closer to their doors" ( New York). “Stunning.... A tour de force.” —The New York Times Book Review Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, 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. Écrit dans le feu de l'Histoire, Suite française dépeint presque en direct l'Exode de juin 1940, qui brassa dans un désordre tragique des familles françaises de toute sorte, des plus huppées aux plus modestes. Avec bonheur, Irène Némirovsky traque les innombrables petites lâchetés et les fragiles élans de solidarité d'une population en déroute. Cocottes larguées par leur amant, grands bourgeois dégoûtés par la populace, blessés abandonnés dans des fermes engorgent les routes de France bombardées au hasard... Peu à peu l'ennemi prend possession d'un pays inerte et apeuré. Comme tant d'autres, le village de Bussy est alors contraint d'accueillir des troupes allemandes. Exacerbées par la présence de l'occupant, les tensions sociales et frustrations des habitants se réveillent...Roman bouleversant, intimiste, implacable, dévoilant avec une extraordinaire lucidité l'âme de chaque Français pendant l'Occupation (enrichi de notes et de la correspondance d'Irène Némirovsky), Suite française ressuscite d'une plume brillante et intuitive un pan à vif de notre mémoire. [In this novel], "A Storm in June," is set in the chaos of the tumultuous exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion. As the German army approaches, Parisians seize what belongings they can and flee the city, the wealthy and the poor alike searching for means to escape. Thrown together under circumstances beyond their control, a group of families and individuals with nothing in common but the harsh demands of survival find themselves facing the annihilation of their world, and human nature is revealed for what it is - sometimes tender, sometimes terrifying ... "Dolce," is set in a German-occupied village near Paris, where, riven by jealousy and resentment, resistance and collaboration, the lives of the townspeople reveal nothing less than the essence of the French identity. The delicate, secret love affair between a German soldier and the French woman in whose house he has been billeted plays out dangerously against the background of Occupation.-Dust jacket Beginning In Paris On The Eve Of The Nazi Occupation In 1940, This Books 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. -- Back Cover Storm In June -- Dolce -- Iréne Némirovsky's Handwritten Notes On The Situation In France And Her Plans For Suite Franc̦aise, Taken From Her Notebooks -- Correspondence -- Preface To The French Edition Irène Némirovsky ; Translated By Sandra Smith. Includes Bibliographical References. 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. (back cover) Translator¿s Note ix Map xi Part One Storm in June ? Part Two Dolce ??? Appendix I Irène Némirovsky¿s handwritten notes on the situation in France and her plans for Suite Française, taken from her notebooks ??? Appendix II Correspondence ????¿???? ??? Preface to the French Edition ?? Acknowledgements