Life in wartime Paris during Nazi occupation. By a Ukrainian Jew who was killed in a concentration camp. Selection of the Duchess of Cornwall Reading Room.
Dec 04, 2020rab1953 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What a wonderful range of people Nemirovsky created, with such depth that even minor figures don’t come across as caricatures or stereotypes. And it must have been a particular challenge to avoid stereotypes when she was writing during the…
May 27, 2019princessofburundi rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've ever read, Suite Francaise was written by Irene Nemirovsky, a Jewish woman living in Paris, while Paris was being stormed by the Nazis. She escaped the city to the countryside and wrote another story here, about…
Oct 16, 2018Vero_biblio rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Falling in love with the enemy is a dangerous game... A love story set during the Nazi occupation of a small village in France. The author, a Jew who had converted to catholicism, died after being taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Oct 13, 2018dpcheney rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I only wish that the author lived to finish the remaining parts of this work. The authenticity of the story, although fictional, surely played out during the occupation of France. Oddly, the enemy in this story is not the Germain Army,…
The story itself is about the German invasion of France in 1940 and the beginning of the occupation of France. The pace is quiet and consistent; the author never indulges in the desire to stare at a train wreck. The planes fly overhead and…
Jan 01, 2017Margush rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Interesting characters and some horrible stories about human beings who should be deprived of a privelage to be called humans. I found the first part to be more interesting, although I had to remind myself who was who by tracking some…
Feb 09, 2016Charlie68 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The parts she wrote are great; leaving the reader wanting more. Part one covering the Invasion and Part two the occupation. Being unfinished the reader is left unsatisfied, the writer died before she could.
Jun 15, 2015JillRose_0 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This book is an amazing work that lets you really understand what is was like to live during the exodus from Paris during WWII and the bittersweet humanity that is experienced by some living in an occupied village. I like that it portrays…
Apr 14, 2015brangwinn rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This uncompleted “suite” about WWII France shows a variety of French citizens in Paris and small villages as the Germans invade and then occupy France. The French weren’t all heroes. Some were selfish, some were generous. Nemirosvsky…
Jan 10, 2011Jennmro rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I found this book difficult to get into. I couldn't get involved with any of the characters as the story bounces back and forth between several families very quickly. I found myself working hard to finish passages and eventually, gave up.
May 16, 2010lisahiggs rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The two novellas that make up Suite Française are the least interesting thing about it. The book is compelling because of the two things that sandwich the novellas between them: one thing being the fact this was written during the…
Apr 11, 2010Miranda5 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is a bit chaotic--it pops back and forth from one family to the other, at least in the first part, and it's difficult to feel connected to any of the characters. But, what I really loved about it is that it provided a perspective…
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Suite Française