Irène Némirovsky - Suite Française

Suite Franaise

Irne Nmirovsky

Translated by Sandra Smith

ALFRED A. KNOPF NEW YORK TORONTO
2006

CONTENTS

Storm in June

War

Dolce

Occupation

Irne Nmirovskys handwritten notes on the situation in France and her plans for Suite Franaise, taken from her notebooks

Correspondence 19361945

ENDNOTES

Appendix I

Appendix II

Preface to the French Edition

TRANSLATORS NOTE

Irne Nmirovsky wrote the two books that form Suite Franaise under extraordinary circumstances. While they may seem remarkably polished and complete, Storm in June and Dolce were actually part of a work-in-progress. Had she survived, Irne Nmirovsky would certainly have made corrections to these two books and completed the cycle she envisaged as her literary equivalent to a musical composition.

Translation is always a daunting task, especially when the translator has so much respect and affection for the author. It is also a creative task that often requires leaps of faith: a feeling for tone, sensing the authors intention, taking the liberty to interpret and, sometimes, to correct. With Suite Franaise, I have made slight changes in order to correct a few minor errors that appear in the novel. In particular, I have altered characters names when they were inconsistent and could prove confusing. However, I have retained other anomalies that pose no real problem to the reader, such as the incorrect proximity of Tours to Paray-le-Monial. Perhaps the most striking error for the English reader is the misquotation of Keats, when Nmirovsky writes: This thing of Beauty is a guilt for ever. I have deliberately retained this mistake in the text as a poignant reminder that Nmirovsky was writing Suite Franaise in the depths of the French countryside, with a sense of urgent foreboding and nothing but her memory as a source.

The Appendices in this edition provide important details regarding Nmirovskys plans for the remaining three books, along with poignant correspondence that reveals her own familys terrible situation.

This translation would not have been possible without the support, advice and encouragement of many people. I am very grateful to my husband Peter, my son Harry, Rebecca Carter at Chatto & Windus, Anne Garvey, Patricia Freestone, Philippe Savary, Paul Micio, Jacques Beauroy and my friends and colleagues at Robinson College, Cambridge. It has been a privilege to translate Suite Franaise. I am sure Irne Nmirovsky would have been happy that so many years after her tragic murder, so many thousands world wide can once again hear her voice. I hope I have done her justice.

I wish to dedicate this translation to my family: the Steins, Lantzes, Beckers and Hofstetters, and to all the countless others who fought, and continue to fight, prejudice and persecution.

I dedicate this novel to the memory of my mother and father, to my sister, Elisabeth Gille, to my children and grandchildren, and to everyone who has felt and continues to feel the tragedy of intolerance.

DENISE EPSTEIN

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
AND ALFRED A. KNOPF CANADA

Translation copyright 2006 by Sandra Smith

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

www.aaknopf.com

www.randomhouse.ca

Originally published in France as Suite Franaise by Denol, Paris, in 2004. Copyright 2004 by ditions Denol. License arranged by the French Publishers Agency in New York. This translation originally published in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, London.

Endpapers: Double page of Irne Nmirovskys Suite Franaise, 1942. Fonds Irne Nmirovsky/Imec.

Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Knopf Canada and colophon are trademarks.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nmirovsky, Irne, 19031942

[Suite franaise. English]

Suite franaise / by Irne Nmirovsky ; translated by Sandra Smith.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. World War, 19391945FranceFiction. 2. FranceHistoryGerman occupation, 19401945Fiction. I. Smith, Sandra, 1949 II. Title.

PO2627.E4S8513 2006

843 .912dc22 2006003461

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Nmirovsky, Irne, 19031942.

Suite franaise / Irne Nmirovsky ; translated by Sandra Smith.

Translation from the French of the book by the same title.

I. Smith, Sandra. II. Title.

PQ2627.E53S8513 2006

843.912 C2005-905425-5

This work (excluding appendices and ancillary material) is fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

eISBN: 978-0-307-26475-6

v3.0

Lucile was surprised to see the postman coming from her house: she didnt receive many letters. On the hall table lay a card addressed to her.

12 rue de la Source, Paris (XVI)

Madame,

Do you remember the old couple you took in last June? We have thought of you often since then, Madame, and your kind welcome when we stopped at your home during that terrible journey. We would be so pleased to hear your news. Did your husband come home from the war safe and sound? As for us, we had the great joy of being reunited with our son.

We send you our best wishes,

Jeanne and Maurice Michaud

Lucile was glad for them. Such nice people... They were happier than she was... They loved each other. They had faced such danger together, and come through it together...

She hid the card in her desk and went into the dining room. It was a nice day, in spite of the persistent rain. There was only one place set at the table and she felt happy again that Madame Angellier wasnt home: she could read while eating. She ate lunch very quickly, then went over to the window and watched the rain falling. It was the back end of the storm, as the cook put it. The weather had changed over the last forty-eight hours, transforming a radiant spring into a cruel, vague sort of season, where the last snow merged with the first flowers. The apple trees had lost all their blossom overnight; the rose bushes were dark and frozen; the wind had smashed flowerpots full of geraniums and sweet peas.

Everything will be ruined! Therell be no fruit, Marthe groaned as she cleared the table. Ill make a fire in here, she added. Its so cold its unbearable. The German asked me to make a fire in his room, but the chimney hasnt been swept and hell just be breathing in smoke. Too bad for him. I told him, but he didnt want to listen. He thinks its because I dont want to do it. As if we wouldnt give them a couple of logs after everything else theyve taken from us... Listen, hes coughing! Good Lord! What a pain to have to wait on these Boches. All right, Im coming, Im coming! she said in annoyance.

Lucile heard her open the door and reply to the irritated German, Well, I tried to tell you! With this wind blowing, a chimney that hasnt been swept just pushes the smoke back inside.