Suite Francaise: A Novel

Suite Française follows men and women caught in circumstances beyond their control during World War II. The novel begins in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, as Parisians flee the city. Human folly emerges in various forms: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple fears losing their jobs as their world collapses. The story then moves to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, where locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, and in their hearts. It portrays a small French town under siege and the people attempting to survive and live as Hitler's forces advance. Irène Némirovsky was a highly successful writer living in Paris when she began working on this novel. As a Jew, she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1942, where she died. The manuscript remained hidden and unknown for sixty-four years before its discovery.