Here is a missing piece of the remarkable posthumous legacy of
Irène Némirovsky, author of the internationally acclaimedSuite
Française.
The novel–only now assembled in its entirety–teems with the
intertwined lives of an insular French village in the years before
the war, when “peace” was less important as a political state than
as a coveted personal condition: the untroubled pinnacle of
happiness.
At the center of the tale is Silvio: in his younger years he
fled the boredom of the village and made a life of travel and
adventure. Now he’s returned, living in a farmer’s hovel in the
middle of the woods, and, much to his family’s chagrin, perfectly
content with his solitude.
As his narration unfolds, we are given an intimate picture of the loves and infidelities, the scandals, the youthful ardor and regrets of age that tie Silvio to the long-guarded secrets of the past.
