
Suite Francaise
Vintage 21
Irene Nemirovsky(Author)
Vintage (Publisher)
Published on 4. August 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-09-956318-1 (ISBN)
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Description
In June 1940 France fell to the Nazis. The effect of this event on the lives of ordinary Parisians and the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation are brilliantly explored in Irene Nemirovsky's heartbreaking novel. A tragic victim of the Nazi regime, Nemirovsky left behind this masterpiece in which she conjures up a vivid cast of characters, thrown together in ways they never expected. Amidst the mess of defeat, true nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places.
Reviews / Votes
"Deftly translated by Sandra Smith, this is possibly the most devastating indictment of French manners and morals since Madame Bovary, as hypnotic as Proust at the biscuit tin, as gruelling as Genet on the prowl. Irene Nemirovsky is, on this evidence, a novelist of the very first order, perceptive to a fault and sly in her emotional restraint" * Evening Standard * "Remarkable as the story of the publication of Suite Francaise is, it will finally be of anecdotal interest compared with the importance of the book. Here is the work of a fine novelist at the top of her form, writing about the fate of her adopted country with a pitiless clarity" -- Patrick Marnham "[I]t is certain to be the toast of publisher...evokes the heroism, brutality and cowardice of a country under occupation...critics are united in acclaiming it as one of the most important novels about the occupation" * Sunday Times * "Suite Francaise is one of those rare books that demands to be read" -- Helen Dunmore * Guardian * "A book of exceptional literary quality, it has the kind of intimacy found in the diary of Anne Frank" * Times Literary Supplement *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
396 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-956318-1 (9780099563181)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Person
Irene Nemirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903, the daughter of a successful Jewish banker. In 1918 her family fled the Russian Revolution for France where she became a bestselling novelist . She was prevented from publishing when the Germans occupied France and moved with her husband and two small daughters from Paris to the safety of the small village of Issy-l'Eveque (in German occupied territory). It was here that Irene began writing Suite Francaise. She died in Auschwitz in 1942.
Translated by Sandra Smith.
Translated by Sandra Smith.