Suite Francaise

Wonderfully written with insight into the emotional strain inflicted on people who have no say in times of war. As the characters unfolded, a long process at that, the reader feels a since of hopelessness not so much because of the war but because freedom had been taken from these people. The German soldiers were as much victims of a bad government as the people in occupied France. I'd give this book five stars if it didn't take so long to weed out how the characters were connected. A sense of sadness lingers. Wil A. Emerson

I'm trying.....I'm really trying to like this book!! I was excited when I bought it and couldn't wait to start reading it.......well, a few pages into it, I kept thinking.....HUH??!! It's extremely confusing, it jumps all over the place from a set of characters to others, and does not grip you, at all. Some review, I believe listed in the book, said that this book was better than the Diary of Anne Frank, don't fall for that!! I'm on page 108, and I've been struggling to get that far within a week, where, usually, I can read that much (and more) within a day. If you haven't bought this book............save your money, unless you feel you may be like some of the others who wrote a review on how great this book was. Wish me luck, I'm going to keep on reading, after all $14.95 plus tax is $14.95.........I may not finish, but I will try in her memory and I believe every person has a story to tell. I don't know if this book has a section on her life, her story, I do hope so.

I was transported back to war torn France and walked the dusty roads to the concentration camps with other prisoners or so it seemed. How lucky was I to be able to imagine and not recount from personal experience. The author has a story to tell and elegantly she succeeds allowing generations after her to know what it was like for people caught up in such madness. I took this book along with two others on holiday and settled down on the hot sands to read, I was unprepared for such a brilliant read. I must also recommend THE FATES, TIN0'S masterful novel his book captured my attention as diligently as Suite Francaise.

The Fates (classic)

"Suite Française" is one of the most amazing books I've read this year. The first part of the book, "Storm in June," depicts the lives of various characters as they struggle with the beginning of the Great War and the German invasion/occupation of Paris. All of the characters are equally fascinating, and the author distinguishes how people from opposite classes responded to the same situations. The second half of the book, "Dolce," revolves around the year-long German occupation of a small French village. This portion of the book details the story of a French woman who falls in love with a German officer, and also conspires to protect a fellow villager who is wanted for the murder of another German.

Irène Némirovsky was an amazing novelist. "Suite Française" is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Every page is absolutely captivating, as are the numerous characters and vivid descriptions of these tragic events. What's even more amazing than this book is Némirovsky's own story: She was a Jewish, Russian immigrant who wrote this novel before she died at Auschwitz in 1942. Némirovsky's daughters possessed the "Suite Française" manuscript for more than 60 years without knowing what it was. Eventually, the book was discovered and became a bestseller in 2004, decades after Némirovsky's death.

I sincerely cannot say enough great things about this book. It's an amazing story about war and foreign occupation that, in a sad twist of irony, was written by a woman who would pay the ultimate price during that exact same period in history. "Suite Française" is a book that should definitely be read by everyone.

Really bad! I usually need to finish any book I start. Literally couldn't with this one. I put it down after 150 pages because there was absolutley no plot development and characters were static! I can't believe the overall rating was 4.5 stars! WHY??