Irène Némirovsky Boeken

Het boek verhaalt over een Frans dorpje in de jaren voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog, toen vrede nog meer betrekking had op het persoonlijk leven dan op de politieke situatie. Het ongecompliceerde geluk. Centraal in het verhaal staat Silvio, die in zijn jonge jaren uit verveling het dorp ontvluchtte en grootse reizen heeft gemaakt. Nu is hij terug en heeft hij zijn intrek genomen in een oud boerenhuis in het bos, afgelegen van het dorp. Voor het huwelijk van zijn lievelingsnichtje moet Silvio zich toch weer onder de mensen begeven. Daar wordt hij geconfronteerd met het dorpse leven en erin meegezogen. Naarmate het verhaal vordert, wordt de lezer deelgenoot gemaakt van de liefde en ontrouw, schandalen, jeugdzonden en spijt van de dorpelingen en wordt duidelijk dat Silvio onlosmakelijk verbonden is met zijn verleden.

Dit meeslepende verhaal over de economische vluchteling verscheen in 1939 als feuilleton in het tijdschrift Gringoire, onder de titel Les Echelles du Levant. Dario Asfar komt in de jaren 20 van vorige eeuw naar Frankrijk in de hoop op een beter leven. Zijn sombere jeugd en het gevoel van mislukking en maatschappelijk schaamte leiden tot zijn obsessie voor geld. De half-Griekse, half-Italiaanse arts raakt echter verstrikt in schulden, en hij en zijn gezin lijden honger. De xenofobe, benepen maatschappij kijkt de vluchtelingen met de nek aan. Asfars wanhoop drijft hem tot een aantal misstappen. Een sluwe charlatan wordt hij, een regelrechte oplichter die, als goeroe van de psychoanalyse, heel mondain Parijs aan zijn voeten krijgt. Zijn gezin vervreemdt van hem en zijn zoon verliest alle achting voor zijn vader. Een haarscherp beeld van een geniale bedrieger die bereid is zijn gezin op te offeren voor zijn obsessie voor geld. Irène Némirovsky (Kiev, 1903), gevierd schrijfster en lievelinge van het Franse publiek, overleed in 1942 in Auschwitz.

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française 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. When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, 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.

A stunning novel about mothers and daughters, about vengeance, and an aging, still beautiful woman on trial for shooting her lover. In a French courtroom, the trial of a woman is taking place. Gladys Eysenach is no longer young, but she remains striking, elegant, cold. She is accused of shooting dead her much-younger lover. As the witnesses take the stand and the case unfolds, Gladys relives fragments of her past: her childhood, her absent father, her marriage, her turbulent relationship with her daughter, her decline, and then the final irrevocable act. With the depth of insight and pitiless compassion we have come to expect from the acclaimed author of Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky shows us the soul of a desperate woman obsessed with her lost youth.

As first the Great War and then the Russian Revolution rage in the background, she grows from a lonely, melancholy child to an angry young woman intent on destruction. The Wine of Solitude is a powerful tale of an unhappy family in difficult times and a woman prepared to wreak a shattering revenge.

Taut, evocative and beautifully paced, All Our Worldly Goods points up with heartbreaking detail and clarity how close were those two wars, how history repeated itself, tragically, shockingly...

As the crisis pushes the family to the brink of dissolution, Tatiana struggles to adapt to life in Paris and waits in vain for her cherished first snow of autumn.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control during World War II—a heartrending "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" (New York). “Stunning.... A tour de force.” —The New York Times Book Review Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940, 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. When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, 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.

Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century Russia, the narrative follows Baruch, a gifted young poet and songwriter whose talent captivates a Princess. While she offers him an escape from his challenging life in an Orthodox Jewish community, his infatuation leads to despair as he realizes her affection is superficial. As Baruch's health deteriorates and he loses his creative gift, he faces the harsh reality of being cast aside, ultimately returning to his family and confronting the tragic fallout of his unrequited love.

But over the course of his stay he is made privy to the inner world of the man he must kill - his failing health, his troubled domestic situation and, most importantly, the tyrannical grip that the Czar himself holds over all his Ministers, forcing them to obey him or suffer the most deadly punishments.