WN191 Bilingual Books: Suite Francaise (New date)

In 1941, Irène Némirovsky sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. Némirovsky's death in Auschwitz in 1942 prevented her from seeing the day, sixty-five years later, that the existing two sections of her planned novel sequence, Suite Française, would be rediscovered and hailed as a masterpiece.

Set during the year that France fell to the Nazis, Suite Française falls into two parts. The first is a brilliant depiction of a group of Parisians as they flee the Nazi invasion; the second follows the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation. Suite Française is a novel that teems with wonderful characters struggling with the new regime. However, amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy and compromise, there is hope. True nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places.

"Quite outstanding, full of beauty, pain and truth" -- Anne Chisholm Sunday Telegraph

"An irresistible work. Suite Francaise clutches the heart" -- Carmen Callil The Times

"The work of a genuine artist" -- Julian Barnes Guardian

About the Instructor: Tracy is a wordsmith with a love of both the written and spoken word. When she doesn't have her head in a book or isn't tapping away writing her next book, she can be found either shopping at a local farmer's market, wandering around a brocante looking for old cookware, vintage china and maps or chatting over a bottle of wine with friends in her adopted French homeland. After spending over 20 years in international project and risk management she moved to the French countryside and returned to her passion for writing and books. Her first short story collections were published in 2015 and 2016, and she is also a book coach, editor and writers workshop leader.