Suite française

March 27, 2006

Suite française, by Irène Némirovsky, has been translated into English by Sandra Smith and is now available. I can't comment on the translation, but I have read the French original and it is an amazing first-hand account of life in France following the defeat against Germany at the beginning of World War II. The history of how the book came to be published is also extraordinary: Irène started writing a novel, getting inspiration from the events unfolding around her, before being captured by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz, where she died. Her daughters, however, survived the war and carefully kept what they thought was a memoir written by their mother. It is only in 2004 that they realised it was a novel, that was then published. I highly recommend it.