A lost masterpiece of French literature, this epic novel of life under Nazi occupation was discovered 62 years after the author’s tragic death at Auschwitz. Originally intended to be in five parts, the two that form this work are complete in themselves. Part One, "A Storm in June," is set in the chaos and mayhem of the massive 1940 exodus from Paris on the eve of the Nazi invasion. Part Two, "Dolce," opens in the provincial town of Bussy during the first influx of German soldiers. Each part features a rich cast of characters—people who never should have met, but come to form ambiguous relationships as they are forced to endure circumstances beyond their control.
These recently rediscovered opening sections of a planned five-part novel by Irene Nemirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942, are cause for rejoicing and for deep mourning for what was lost. Daniel Oreskes reads the first novella, a bleak human comedy of Parisians fleeing the city in chaos, rather pointlessly, it turns out, as the Wehrmacht arrives. Barbara Rosenblat performs the second, in which many characters from the first reappear, about the sometimes subtle, sometimes violent tensions in a French farm village under German occupation, as conquerors and conquered, aristocrats and peasants interact in unaccustomed ways. This is complex, polished, and moving work by Nemirovsky, who must have written at breakneck speed, and by two incomparable actors, a virtually flawless production that will repay multiple listenings. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
--The New York Times...
"A finely made work of fiction that portrays occupied France with both severity and sympathy…written with extraordinary detachment by a woman who seemed to know that her own days were numbered."
About the Author
IRÈNE NÉMIROVSKY was born in Kiev in 1903, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish banker. She and her family fled Russia in 1918 and arrived in France the following year. Educated at the Sorbonne, well-connected and multilingual, she lived a privileged émigré life and became one of the most celebrated authors of her day. Némirovsky published five novels before being arrested by the Vichy government.
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