French Suite

Author: Elena G. Nemirovsky (France)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The French Suite was created amidst the turmoil of war. It depicts the Great Escape of 1940 Paris in stark realism, as nearly every French family was caught in this tragic chaos. Elena Nemirovsky does not spare the countless acts of cowardice during the escape, nor does she overlook the faint sparks of unity among the people in this flight. The scenes include mistresses abandoned by lovers, bourgeois elites repulsed by vulgar commoners, and wounded victims who blocked France's highways, left behind in rural estates after being abandoned during sudden bombings. Soon, the enemy occupied this numb and terrified land. Like many other places, the town of Buchy had to welcome the arrival of German troops. The presence of the occupation intensified social conflicts and the residents' sense of frustration, awakening them. In an era when readers had nearly forgotten the charm of classic novelists, Nemirovsky, with the pain and brilliant talent of her final years of life, presented us with that bygone past—its characters, events, and settings—in a fictional world. This book depicts the Great Escape of 1940 Paris in stark realism, as nearly every French family was caught in this tragic chaos.