Suite Francaise cover art

Suite Francaise

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Suite Francaise

By: Irene Nemirovsky
Narrated by: Carole Boyd
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £10.34

Buy Now for £10.34

About this listen

In June 1940 France fell to the Nazis. The effects of this momentous event on the lives of ordinary Parisians and the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation are brilliantly explored in Irène Némirovsky’s gripping and heart-breaking novel. Némirovsky herself was a tragic victim of the Nazi regime but she left behind her this exceptional masterpiece. In Suite Française she conjures up a vivid cast of wonderful characters who find themselves thrown together in ways they never expected. Amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy and compromise, there is hope. True nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places.

©2006 Irene Nemirovsky (P)2011 Random House AUDIO GO Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking War Military
All stars
Most relevant
An extraordinarily, vivid, contemporary and moving account of the aftermath of the French collapse during the Second World War .
Published sixty years after the authors death.

A masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was totally gripped my this by this wonderful reading of and didn’t want it to end.

Perfect performance of a masterpiece.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Yes I don't think this book would appeal in anyway to the average bloke! If it is not a true story it certainly reads like one. The author, who was tragically murdered at Auschwitz by the Nazis, writes about the Parisiennes fleeing from the German Occupation. Packing up their treasures, organising their children, locking up their homes and carrying food for the journey.. The reader is there with them in the muddle of hundreds of refugees searching for a safe place to travel to but there is limited petrol and the menfolk, who would have helped, are away fighting at the Front.
Meanwhile the Germans have arrived in France and have been billeted on to the French people in their homes. Of course the soldiers are most unwelcome although they try to be friendly and helpful. They don't want the war any more than the French.
Lots of little vignettes of various families but I suppose the main one is where a French girl whose husband is away fighting falls in love with a German officer. Tut! tut! Beautifully written you will not be disappointed.

Dare I say this?? A woman's book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Superb book. The story of the book's genesis certainly adds to how impressive it is.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I bought a wonderful hardback copy of Suite Francaise in my early 20s hoping to get lost in it one summer in France, but 10 years later it still hasn't happened. I opted for the audible version to start me off, should I want to continue reading it myself. Carole Boyd's performance is top notch, very easy to listen to and her pronunciations of French words is impeccable. She did well to have relatively different voices for all the characters too, bearing in mind there are *so* many! Whilst her narration flows nicely, it can get repetitive and boringly familiar. But this book does go on...and on....and on, as wars often do, which isn't Carole's fault. She gets 4 stars.
However everything else is a 3, and that's me being generous. The story is split into two parts, firstly "Tempête en Juin", set In Paris when everyone is ordered to flee following German bormbardment and subsequent occupation of the capital. In my opinion, there were very long chapters and too many characters - I felt it didn't amount to much. That said, I listened to most of it at bedtime; it sent me to sleep easily, but I could never remember anything when I woke up. I backtracked a few chapters and tried again during my commute, but it made me want to sleep again! I just could not easily immerse myself in it. Deep down I feel I owe it to myself to try again from the beginning but even the thought of that makes me groan with despair. Maybe I will try reading it instead.
Meanwhile, the second part, "Dolce" travels to the countryside wherein scandals lie - mainly the obvious love affair between Bruno, a German soldier billeted in a house with Lucille, a French (good as single) housewife and her difficult mother-in-law. The sexual tension builds continuously but results in a disappointing anticlimax, and a subplot takes over, involving an escaped French POW who returns to the village, marries his fiancée and eventually shoots a German officer billeted in their house. It reminded me of a soap opera, and not in a good way. I wanted to stop so many times but I don't like leaving things unfinished so I forced myself to carry on listening. Suffice to say, I enjoyed /found Dolce easier to follow than Tempête, but I was relieved when the book ended. Even though the final line is quite open ended.
I wanted to like Suite Francaise so badly as WW2 is a great interest of mine, but I could not get to grips with execution of how this story was written and subsequently performed. Even the basic plot synopsis on Wikipedia painted a thrilling picture but no dice. Sorry Irene.

This went on and on... much like wars do.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews