Suite Française
Irène Némirovsky's unfinished novel of France in the first year of the war
France in 1940, written as it happened
Irène Némirovsky wrote Suite Française in 1941 and 1942, during the German occupation of France. It has two parts: Storm in June, about people fleeing Paris, and Dolce, about life in a village under occupation. The manuscript was published in 2004, long after the author's death.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who enjoy stories set firmly in a real time and place.
More about this book
Who
Parisians on the road, and the villagers of Bussy and the German soldiers billeted among them.
World
France, 1940 to 1941.
What makes it different
The novel was written during the events it describes, and was left unfinished.
Feel
Observant and sombre.
Facts
Genre
Historical Fiction · World War II · France · Occupation
Length
468 pages · ≈ 13 h
Also in the collection: Best World War II Fiction
The Nightingale
Sarah's Key
Lilac Girls
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The Book Thief
The Invisible Bridge
All the Light We Cannot See
Fugitive Pieces
Sophie's Choice
The Winds of War