<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>An extraordinary novel of life under Nazi occupation--discovered and published 62 years after the author's tragic death at Auschwitz. Subtle, often fiercely ironic, and deeply compassionate, it is both a piercing record of its time and a brilliant, profoundly moving work of art.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, <i>Suite Française</i> tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy--in their town, their homes, even in their hearts. <p/>When Irène Némirovsky began working on <i>Suite Française</i>, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died. For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"Stunning. . . . A tour de force." --<i>The New York Times Book Review <p/></i>"Remarkable." --<i>Newsweek</i> <p/>An incisive, heartbreaking portrait of a small French town under seige, and the people trying to survive, even to live, as Hitler's horrors march closer and closer to their doors. . . . A masterpiece of observation and character study, a standout of Holocaust literature. --<i>New York </i> <p/>"[Némirovsky] sees the fullness of humanity. . . . A lost masterpiece." --<i>O, the Oprah Magazine</i> <p/>"Gripping. . . . Brilliant. . . . Endlessly fascinating." --<i>The Nation <p/></i>"Transcendent, astonishing. . . . The last great fiction of the war." --<i>The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <p/></i>"Superb." --<i>The Washington Post Book World <p/></i>"Extraordinary. . . . A work of Proustian scope and delicacy, by turns funny and deeply moving." --<i>Time</i></p><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903 into a wealthy banking family and emigrated to France during the Russian Revolution. After attending the Sorbonne, she began to write and swiftly achieved success with her first novel, <i>David Golder</i>, which was followed by <i>The Ball</i>, <i>The Flies of Autumn, Dogs and Wolves</i> and <i>The Courilof Affair</i>. She died in 1942.