Suite française by Irène Némirovsky (Book Analysis)

This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of Suite française by Irène Némirovsky. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, along with an examination of its depiction of French society and history. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.

This clear and detailed 29-page reading guide is structured as follows:

• Biography of Irène Némirovsky
• Presentation of Suite française
• Summary of Suite française
• Character study
  • The Péricands
  • Gabriel Corte and Charles Langelet
  • The Michauds
  • Lucile Angellier
  • Madeleine Labarie
• Analysis of Suite française
  • The structure of the work
  • An unkind portrayal of French society
  • A novel in the heart of history

About Suite française

Suite française was supposed to be a series of five novels dealing with life in France during the German invasion and subsequent occupation in the early 1940s. However, the author’s death at Auschwitz meant that the work was never finished. Even so, the novel was critically acclaimed when it was published several decades later, and became a resounding popular success: it has been translated into almost 40 languages and sold over 2.5 million copies to date. Suite française won the Prix Renaudot, a prestigious literary award in France, in 2004, the only time the prize has been given posthumously.

About Irène Némirovsky

Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903, but was forced to emigrate to France in 1917 because of the Russian Revolution. She experienced her first major success as a novelist with David Golder in 1929, and became one of the leading literary figures of her time. However, she lived during a dark period in European history: in spite of her conversion to Catholicism, she was arrested because of her Jewish origins during the German occupation of France and deported to Auschwitz, where she died of typhus a few weeks after her arrival, at the age of 39. Her best-known work, Suite française, remained unfinished and was not published until many years after her death.