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Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

I don't know why I put off reading this so long. It was excellent. This is a fascinating look at German-occupied France during the early days of WWII. Irène Némirovsky was a Russian Jew (converted to Catholicism) who wrote this story while living in Paris and then rural France. This was to be a much larger novel, but she only was able to complete two parts before dying in Auschwitz in 1942. I loved the notes in the appendix -- reading of her plans for the story and her thought-processes. This story, though fiction, is especially interesting as it was written by someone experiencing these things at the same time she was writing about them.

I'm making a promise to myself that I will read this book this year. I think next week I will sit down and make a list of the books I must read. In fact, I'm going to go pull this one off my shelf and set it on my desk.

Lisa, this one has been on my list, too. Let me know if we can do a group buddy read late spring early summer.

I read it long ago....

When you read it, be sure to read the appendix, too. It adds a lot to the historical aspect of the story.

LynnB wrote: "When you read it, be sure to read the appendix, too. It adds a lot to the historical aspect of the story."

That part was so emotional!