Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

My last book review was Fire in the Blood by the same author and it was shamefully last April. It’s now July…no wait, August. Spell DELAYED.

Irene Nemirovsky was introduced to me by my brooding writer friend, Tim, who porbably is more sophisticated and a selective reader than I am. Me, I just read anything, I’m a book whore. But for this friend of mine, he reads and discards books with a profound reason. Whenever we discuss our love and critique for renowned authors like Martin, Tolstoy, Gaiman or any new discovery, I always feel I’m having brain hemorrhage. He is that cerebral. That’s why when he told me that if I’m going to read Nemirovsky, I shouldn’t miss her best work yet, the unfinished novel that made her popular, Suite Francaise.

I had no idea who Nemirovsky was before I read Fire in the Blood. I got Fire in The Blood first, delighted at her fluid story telling and powerfully flawed characters, and I was hooked. She writes in a rich, fluid language that transports you to where you should be while reading it. After Fire in the Blood,  knew I just had to get Suite Francaise. As expected, I couldn’t find a copy in the leading bookstores, but just like divine intervention, on the same weekend that I was looking for it, I found one copy in perfect condition in a village book sale for 100 pesos. It was even a trade paperback. Perpetual bliss right there, I think it was intended for me to find. 

Goodreads.com

Suite Francaise is a story of French entering the 2^nd world war. And just like in any country entering war, there will be chaos, confusion, heart breaks and different kinds of deceit. Human weakness in all forms would be magnified together with heroic outbursts of the few. The vulnerability of the transition of people from all walks of life is the primary charm of the novel compilation. Personally, I never really liked war stories with the technicality and total despair of it. In Suite Francaise, I was able to peek how such families, people from all walks of life try to cope and transition their way to a life they never chose and are forced to endure. Suite Francaise is a literary observation of how families and people cope in the middle of war as if someone had wrote a diary that developed itself to a novel.

It was a total delight. It was not depressing as expected. It is a continuous story of interrelated characters coping with what life gives them in the phase of war. Her writing is very fluid from a 3^rd person perspective. She concentrates on human relationships and human evolution in challenging times. Though she is very candid and honest about human’s undesirable aspects, there’s always a hint of hope amidst the sentimentality that makes this book moving, but not entirely depressing.

Suite Francaise is two compiled books written by the author during the French Occupation. The 2^nd book is called Dolce, which follows new and old characters from the 1^st book Suite Francaise. Suite Francaise gives a glimpse of the first stages of war while Dolce is already focused on the French occupation and how people tried to continue with their lives given the circumstances. For me, Dolce looks deeper and has more emotional battles than the first book, which mostly narrates superficial challenges. Dolce also hints the end of war and restoration of France.

It’s a good book to read on a rainy day. If you want to read something slow, moving and with a human and emotional touch on war, this book could transport you to the French Lands during those times. I loved her Fire in the Blood, but in Suite Francaise, I’ve become her fan.

I sincerely imagined myself reading this on a train, killing time while I travel through Europe.