Book 8: Suite Francaise

Even though I put Suite Francaise down several hours ago, it is still very much alive in my mind and in my heart. I'm so glad that I waited to read it until late in the year, because it is, in my mind, the Book of the Year. Irene Nemirovsky wrote this masterwork in the early stages of WWII, and the book only saw the light of day after her daughter decided to donate her mother's papers to a museum. In an effort to make her mother's notes more clear, Nemirovsky's daughter began the painstaking process of going through them. In doing so, she discovered that what she thought were notes were, in fact, two completed works and notes for the rest.

Suite Francaise is a multi-character novel that carefully spans the word of Paris as the German army arrives. Nemirovsky captures the madness, the horrific decisions that every citizen was forced to make, the passion, the hunger, and the daily struggle that was France during this awful period.

The work is a masterpiece, and I grieve for the parts that are lost to time -- the parts that the reader can see, but not read, as Nemirovsky was taken away by the Nazis and killed before completing her work. Highly recommended!