Dimanche and Other Stories

by Irène Némirovsky, Bridget Patterson (Translator)

Written between 1934 and 1942, these ten stories cover the details of social class; the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives; the manners and mannerisms of the French bourgeoisie; and questions of religion and personal identity. The stories move from the drawing rooms of prewar Paris to the lives of men and women in wartime France.

Dimanche = Sunday --
Les rivages heureux = Those happy shores --
Liens du sang = Flesh and blood --
Fraternité = Brotherhood --
La femme de don Juan = Don Juan's wife --
Le sortilège = The spell --
Le spectateur = The spectator --
Monsieur Rose = Mr. Rose --
La confidente = The confidante --
L'inconnu = The unknown soldier

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, France, Classics, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Irène Némirovsky was born in Kyiv in 1903 into a successful banking family. Trapped in Moscow by the Russian Revolution, she and her family fled first to a village in Finland, and eventually to France, where she attended the Sorbonne.

Irène Némirovsky achieved early success as a writer: her first novel, David Golder, published when she was twenty-six, was a sensation. By 1937 she had published nine further books and David Golder had been made into a film; she and her husband Michel Epstein, a bank executive, moved in fashionable social circles.

When the Germans occupied France in 1940, she moved with her husband and two small daughters, aged 5 and 13, from Paris to the comparative safety of Issy-L’Evêque. It was there that she secretly began writing Suite Française. Though her family had converted to Catholicism, she was arrested on 13 July, 1942, and interned in the concentration camp at Pithiviers. She died in Auschwitz in August of that year. --Penguin Random House

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A child's ignorance creates a world that is only half-understood and partly concealed. Perhaps that is the reason it remains so vivid in the memory.

Only one of these stories, possibly two, are about a child's knowledge of the world but that idea of only part understanding threads through these stories which are vibrant with emotion and sensual detail.

Némirovsky isn't a flashy or obvious writer; she is elegant and has a way of dialing down the potential for melodrama so that it becomes quotidian and understandable. These stories are compassionate and humane, and nicely sited within material environments that contribute to the feel of the tale.

My two favourite stories (Dimanche/Sunday, Les rivages heureux/Those Happy Shores) share a concern with women's inner lives, the misunderstandings and conflicts between generations and the compatibilities and continuations as well.

Low key but marvellously embodied and tied to recognisable worlds, these are little gems of observation and empathy.

[bookstories_travels🪐 · Rating 5 out of 5]

En los últimos días de 2022 una lectura se coló sorpresivamente en mi lista de mejores lecturas del año, algo que es muy raro que pase. Hacía muchos años que había leído un único libro de Irène Némirovsky, su celebre y dramática “Suite Francesa”, y volver a esta autora con “El Baile” me recordó que su prosa tiene algo tan bello y triste que conmueve. Y supe que no tardaría mucho en caer el otro libro que tenía desde hacía años, la presente antología de 15 relatos que Némirovsky publicó en diferentes revistas francesas a lo largo de su corta pero prolífica carrera. Cada uno de estos relatos tiene la potencia de una novela, en pocas páginas se cuenta una historia perfectamente trazada a la que el buen hacer de su autora da una fuerza que no podrían tener en manos de un escritor menos capacitados; tal es la maestría, la sensibilidad y el detallismo con el que Némirovsky las trabaja. Mira que es difícil, pero es que en esta antología no hay ni un solo relato que no merezca la pena y que no sea una maravilla, que no me haya gustado. Lo mejor que se puede hacer es leerlos poco a poco, para saborearlos como se merecen. Todos se mueven dentro de unas temáticas que son típicas de la bibliografía de su autora, pero a la vez todos son muy variados y diferentes entre si.

Némirovsky no era una escritora que relate sobre situaciones dramáticas o en cuyos trabajos se den impactantes giros de guion. Sus historias son muy sencillas, y su economía narrativa muy parca. Pero todos sus personajes tiene un perfil psicológico muy complejo. Es una autora en la que la tragedia se esconde en el interior de sus personajes. Lo suyo son las intrahistorias, los recovecos y matices que se esconden en cada uno de los personajes, las cosas que no saben o no pueden decir, los sentimientos que les carcomen desde lo más hondo del alma. Y a esto se le suma diálogos ágiles y fluidos y una gran agilidad para pasar de la perspectiva de un personaje a otro, de una forma que ayuda al lector a sumergiese más en su psique y en la historia.

A continuación, una breve reseña sobre cada una de las 15 historias:

“Domingo ”: este cuento bebe de una de las grandes obsesiones de la autora, permanentemente representada en su obra: las relaciones tormentosas entre madres e hijas, sazonadas por la lucha que representan entre madurez y juventud y por como el egoismo, la fuerza y la vitalidad de una juventud que se impone a la envidia y a los años irremediablemente perdidos de una madurez que ha perdido su esplendor y desea volver al pasado. De ahí que nos encontremos ante una historia profundamente melancólica, con una prosa directa, pero que se recrea en crear una atmósfera serena y llena de matices y con una belleza casi plástica, recreándose en los detalles y ambientes de la vida parisina, y el en el tiempo y los cambios de luces que van apareciendo a medida que va sucediendose ese día de domingo como otro cualquiera, pero en el que unos hechos triviales dejan su huella en las protagonistas, marcando la lucha que se ha tejido entre ellas y la forma en que, pese a lo diferentes que son, sus historias son dolorosamente similares. Eso es lo irónico y cruel de esta historia amarga, donde se ve que nada cambia en un mundo en el que el amor es un arma de doble filo, capaz de hacerte feliz y de llevarte la más absoluta desgracia y desidia. Lo que no se dice resuena como un cañón, es la canción de fondo para el mar embravecido que es la psique de estas dos mujeres.

“Las orillas dichosas ”: Este relato me ha partido totalmente el corazón. Su centro es el mismo que lo que podemos ver en “Domingo”, el contraste entre una mujer joven y otra ya en la madurez. Pero en este caso no son hija y madre (que es lo que parece que va a ser en las primeras páginas de la historia), sino dos mujeres que se encuentran en un bar en Nochevieja, y cuyas vidas no pueden ser más diferentes. Durante un breve encuentro parece que ambos mundos pueden entenderse y que se establece una suerte de camaradería entre las dos. Pero ellas son, al final, la noche y el día, y es imposible que puedan llegar a ser amigas o que sus mundos se junten. Como al final del cuento, descubre de la forma más amarga Ginnette, la mujer que ha perdido a su amiga y que se ve obligada a prostituirse para sobrevivir, que deprimida llora sus penas en un bar mientras espera algún cliente y recuerda lo que fue su pasado y añora su juventud perdida, mientras su porvenir se presenta desnudo de cualquier aliciente. Las pequeñas alegrías del presente son su único consuelo, y aquella que representaba la rica, hermosa y bendecida Christiane se termina por desvanecer cómo esas orillas dichosas que se borran en el horizonte y desaparecen sus siluetas mientras el barco se aleja. Una historia en la que se pone en relieve el orgullo y el egoísmo de las clases privilegiadas de la Francia de entreguerras, y lo poco que importa y cuenta una mujer de edad, solitaria y despreciada, que está tan desesperada que acaba por encontrar esperanzas y consuelos en lo encuentros y sucesos más breves y casuales.

“Aíno”: un cuento gótico con un marco de fondo que para Némirovsky debió de ser muy conocido. Y es que ella y su familia se vieron obligados a huir de su Ucrania natal cuando la Revolución Bolchevique cambio para siempre el imperio ruso y obligo a muchos a emigrar. Al igual que la anónima protagonista de esta historia, que se ha refugiado en Finlandia quedara fascinada por una casa abandonada en medio del bosque, testigo mudo de un asesinato relacionado con la guerra. La imaginación de la adolescente encuentra en dos cuadros de la casa un optimo combustible que la hará imaginar que pudo pasar con los dos retratados y su historia de amor. Todo tiene un matiz onírico y melancólico, creando una atmósfera en la que el lector (al igual que la narradora) siente que una presencia fantasmal sobrevuela todo. La descripción del entorno finlandés es brillante y lírica, casi te deja la impresión de estar en esos bosque finlandeses nevados. Y en medio de tanto ensueño, la figura de Aíno , una criada del lugar, interrumpe casi con brusquedad, una figura que reluce en contraste con las ideas románticas y novelísticas de la protagonista. Un misterio relacionado con lo que pasó en la casa abandonada, se forja como una tela de araña alrededor de Aíno, la cual es descrita de una manera tan breve como certera. Y todo desembocara en un final que podría resultar brusco, pero que gracias a la tensión que la autora logra imprimirle se convierte en un desenlace de cuento de miedo. Además de eso, la descripciones de las escenas de guerra que jalonan ese final resultan poderosamente cercanas e impactantes.

“ Fraternidad ”: Una fría tarde de octubre, dos hombres coinciden en una estación de trenes. A primera vista no tienen nada en común, uno de ellos es un francés rico y de buena posición; el otro es un inmigrante ruso que ha pasado por varios países y varios trabajos para subsistir. Y de una forma casual ambos acaban entablando conversación y descubriendo que tienen más en común que lo que podían haberse imaginar. Los dos son judíos y comparten el apellido Rabinovitch. Y a los dos les preocupan sus respectivos hijos. Y así el rico judío descubre que tiene más en común con ese humilde hombre que con cualquiera de sus semejantes en cuanto a riquezas o preeminencia social. La situación de los judíos en una Europa de entreguerras en la que el eco de un nuevo conflicto armado es cada vez más perceptible, el miedo a un mundo incierto, y la historia de éxodos y opresión que ha caracterizado a lo largo de los siglos a este pueblo se convierten en el nexo de unión entre estos dos hombres. Siempre había leído que Némirovsky (de la que ,como ya he mencionado antes, apenas tengo nada leído) no solía representar a su etnia con los tintes más favorables; debido a los prejuicios que existían en contra de ellos. Pero en este relato se percibe una nítida comprensión y empatía hacia lo que supone ser judío y de el peso que tiene en ellos su dura historia. Algo que gana relevancia, cuando se piensa en el momento histórico en el que este cuento fue escrito.

“ Los vapores del vino ”: la Finlandia de los primeros tiempos soviéticos, a la cual volvieron para esconderse muchos de sus compatriotas militares, es el marco para esta historia en la que se nos presenta un mundo política y moralmente reprimido. Y está represión crea un clima de tensión que solo necesita un chispazo para volar por los airea y dar paso al desenfreno. El vino es el hilo conductor de esta bacanal, convirtiéndose en una metáfora y un medio por el que se exaltan la vivacidad, el sexo, el amor y las ganas de vivir. Por un momento de todo eso la gente pierde la cabeza y saca sus auténticos deseos a la superficie.

“ Lazos de sangre ”: más que un relato estamos ante una novela corta o novellette, en la que Némirovsky nos regala una historia llena de recovecos y bien hilvanada protagonizada por personajes construidos desde una fina perspectiva psicológica. La obra es un estudio en sí mismo, de la relaciones familiares y, concretamente, de los lazos entre hermanos y de su complejidad en todo su esplendor. El hilo conductor es la repentina enfermedad de la matriarca del clan Demestre, que congrega alrededor de su cama a sus cuatro hijos y a sus nueras. Las relaciones entre los distintos matrimonios están marcadas por la frialdad y la distancia, y por lo diferentes que son sus vidas y circunstancias. La enfermedad de la madre será el punto de partida para recordar el vinculo que les une y reforzarlo, la cercanía de la muerte libera tensiones y acorta distancias. Y durante un momento te lo crees. Pero con Némirovsky las cosas nunca son tan plácidas y convenientes. La realidad y la rutina se imponen tras esa tregua, convirtiendo la historia en una metáfora sobre la sociedad del momento, plagada de obligaciones, convenciones sociales y, sobre todo, de amor por el dinero. Todo esto es algo de lo que nadie puede escapar, terminando por traspasar a las propias familia instalándose entre ellas y destruyéndolas desde dentro. Una muestra de que la sangre no lo es todo.

“ Un hombre honrado ”: el señor Mitaine es una persona de carácter irreprochable y respetado por los vecinos del pequeño pueblo donde vive. La gran pena de su vida es el supuesto crimen que contra él cometió su único hijo, al cual adoraba y al que se ha negado a ver desde entonces. La confección de su testamento le pondrá de cara a su pasado y a todo lo que hizo en su momento. En el fondo, el señor Mitaine no es un mal individuo, pero tampoco es perfecto y tiene sus propios trapos sucios en el armario, testigos mudos de una vida en la que los principios morales y la rectitud no le llevaron a ninguna parte. Su figura representa una serie de contradicciones puramente humanas y que nacen de sus acciones del pasado. Y que hace que veamos en los demás (en este caso en nuestros hijos) todo el mal que sabemos que en realidad habita en nosotros.

“ El incendio ”: los George son un matrimonio que poco a poco se están enriqueciendo gracias a la compra de tierras del pueblo donde viven. Su última adquisición les hace dueños de una mansión previamente alquilada a un pintor parisino en sus horas bajas. Contada desde el punto de vista de Julie George, una mujer elegante, orgullosa y segura de si misma; el encuentro casual e intrascendente entre el matrimonio y el inquilino quedará marcado por el deseo de aventura y sensualidad que también están presentes en una mujer tan aparentemente tan satisfecha como la George. Y por un posterior suceso que demostrará que nada es lo que parece e ilustrara la hipocresía y los secretos que se esconden en todos nosotros. La escena final es impactante por si misma, llena de una simbología muy potente que queda subrayada por el hecho de que la autora de margen a cada lector para que saque sus propias conclusiones sobre la misma y sobre el relato.

“ El desconocido ”: Mientras las tropas de Hitler avanzan por Europa, rumbo a Francia, y una estación de trenes se encuentra plagada de refugiados. En medio de todo ese caos, dos hermanos deben hacer frente a una debacle personal que va a juego con lo que está sufriendo Europa, a merced de la revelación que uno de ellos ha hecho sobre su familia. La autora capta muy bien la tensión, el vértigo y el miedo que el avance alemán impuso en toda Europa, y en ese sentido, este relato me ha recordado mucho a su famosa e inacabada “Suite Francesa”. De hecho, una de las muchas capas que se puede apreciar en este relato es la manera en que muestra la arbitrariedad del conflicto bélico, la manera cruda y fiera con que siega vidas e iguala a todos. La guerra se muestra aquí caprichosa y curiosa, impulsora de un destino al que no se puede escapar y filtrándose en la historia de estos dos hermanos, ayudándoles a descubrir algo que nunca hubieran creído posible y resucitando para ellos fantasmas que creían ya enterrados. Además, Némirovsky expone un conflicto muy interesante: el de si tiene el sentido enfrentarse a la verdad respecto a un hecho del pasado, que ya no tiene solución, o si es mejor dejar las cosas como están y no removerlas. La cuestión queda en el aire. Es el lector quien debe responderla por sí mismo.

“ La confidente”: Un reputado músico ha perdido a su mujer mientras se encontraba en el extranjero de gira, y se reúne con la amiga que la acompañó en sus últimas horas. La conversación entre los dos le descubrirá que la mujer a la que amaba no era más que un espejismo, un espejismo que era como una muñeca Matrioska, pues tras el se escondía otra persona a la que él no conocía. Y detrás había algo más... Esto convertirá este relato en una reflexión sobre como podemos vivir por medio de otros y la atracción que supone ser decisivos en la vida de alguien; sobre el amor y el arte; y sobre lo que es real y sobre lo que no es real. Y en como lo que creemos que es verdad puede ser un mero sueño, pero a veces el sueño se impone a esa verdad y se vuelve algo más sólido y preferible que lo que es real.
En definitiva, es un cuento que tiene el mismo aura poética y melancólica que el resto de relatos de la antología. Pero que aquí se encuentra elevada a su máxima potencia.

“ La mujer de don Juan ”: En sus últimas horas, una criada escribe varias cartas a la hija de sus antiguos señores. En dichas misivas habla de una historia de muerte y amor de la que se piensa que todo está ya escrito. Pero en un giro trepidante, la criada demostrara que eso no es así… se trata de una historia muy típica, pero que Némirovsky lleva por unos derroteros impredecibles. La crítica hacia la sociedad del momento se da de la mano con un concienzudo es estudio sobre cómo una misma situación se ve de forma diferente cuando se trata de un hombre y una mujer, las injusticias a las que éstas sean sometidas muchas veces por la gente de su alrededor y por sus propios maridos. Y también, esta es una historia limpia y cruel sobre los secretos que todos cargamos, sobre que no hay que fiarse de lo que las apariencias nos dicen, a veces lo único que vemos es el reflejo del espejo. La pura realidad se esconde tras el cristal y las cosas que caíamos. Y cada uno de nosotros se ve obligado a jugar las cartas que le han tocado en suerte como mejor se pueda, escondiendo lo que le interesa y sacando a relucir lo que le conviene.

“ El conjuro ”: nos encontramos en una historia muy lineal en la que la autora bucea entre sus recuerdos de infancia para describirnos a una estrafalaria familia de inmigrantes rusos y las atípicas relaciones que hay entre ellos. El relato sorprende por el tono distendido y brillante que tiene respecto a otros del presente volumen. No es una historia que esconda una segunda lectura más profunda, o que busque proporcionar al lector grandes sorpresas al lector pese a su giro de guión de última hora ( y que, por otra parte, no resulta especialmente sorprendente por lo previsible que es. Lo que se busca en esta historia es hacer una descripción minuciosa del día a día de esta familia y de sus miembros, a la par que nos habla de las cosas que están a la vista aunque no queramos verlas. Se trata de un repaso a lo que supone la infancia respecto a nuestros recuerdos, al lugar que ocupa en nuestra memoria. El relato es, pues, un ejercicio por parte de la autora para captar un recuerdo lejano que para ella reluce. Y como tal, el cuento tiene unos tintes de añoranza y candor, que lo hace muy especial.

“ La Ogresa ”: Irène Némirovsky era buena hasta en poner los títulos, y esto se ve aquí muy bien. El decadente escenario de una ciudad termal en temporada baja es un buen escenario para una mujer poco agraciada que siempre soñó con ser una bella actriz y llevar una vida de lujos y éxito. Sus propias carencias y la educación que sus estrictos padres le dieron impidieron eso. Así que extrapolo esos deseos en su hija mayor hasta devorar a la propia chica y quitarle ya no solo su vida en todos los sentidos, también su personalidad. Y cuando agotó a la chica, el proceso empezó de nuevo con resultados tan diferentes. Y lo que nos queda es una “ogresa” tan patética como peligrosa. Como dice el padre del joven narrador del relato “No hay nada más peligroso que deseo insatisfecho de una mujer. Se las arreglará para que sus hijos se harten de la fruta que a ella le negaron, aunque esa fruta les siente mal: les hará tragar la piel, la carne, el hueso, todo, hasta que se ahoguen”. Por su naturaleza, esta historia me ha recordado mucho a “ La confidente”. Y me ha gustado la vuelta de tuerca, que la autora le da a la relaciones tóxicas entre madres e hijas respecto a otros relatos anteriores.

“ El espectador ”: una de las cosas más interesantes de esta recopilación de relatos es que están ordenados cronológicamente. Así podemos ver como la tensión en Europa fue paulatinamente dejando su impronta en la obra de Némirovsky para llegar a su punto álgido en esta historia. La guerra aquí ya es algo real y palpable, que afecta a todo el mundo. Ni siquiera el dinero, la educación y la posibilidad de abandonar una Europa ya en guerra son garantías de nada. El dolor que trae consigo, no perdona. El protagonista de esta historia es un hombre cínico, que siempre ha visto el sufrimiento ajeno como algo inevitable y que en él no repercute personalmente, por lo que era fácil ignorarlo y seguir a lo suyo. Pero cuando llega la hora, se dará cuenta no solo del poder caprichoso y arbitrario del conflicto. También comprobara hasta que punto la indiferencia y la pasividad solo sirven para que esto se mantenga y continue. La rueda de la fortuna da de la peor forma posible una lección a un hombre que vivía solo para su placer, cuyas riquezas, educación y buen gusto no le salvaran de los horrores del mar y de una muerte cercana. Una sensación que traspasa al lector hasta el mismo final del relato.

“ El señor Rose ”: y cerramos el libro con otro relato en el que la guerra marca los compase y que me ha recordado un poco al famoso cuento “Canción de Navidad” de Dickens. El señor Rose es un hombre muy pragmático que siempre ha visto las cosas desde un prisma muy individualista. La Segunda Guerra Mundial le afecta como a muchos de sus compatriotas, hasta que también acabara llamando a su puerta. Obligado a huir de su casa, Rose se enfrentará a muchas experiencias a las que nunca pensé que tendría que hacer frente, evidenciando la falta de preparación del pueblo francés ante el conflicto. Por el camino irá descubriendo lo poco que importa el dinero y la seguridad al final. Cuenta más tener quien cuide de ti y te quiera, y el propio hecho de seguir vivo. Una revelación que eclosionara al final del relato, con el primer acto compasivo y justo que el protagonista realice en toda la historia (y quizás en su vida) que se vera recompensado de una manera irónica y marcara la evolución que el personaje se ha visto obligado a sufrir a lo largo de este relato final.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Persephone publishes a number of collections of short stories – and they are generally the kind of short stories I love. Dimanche and other stories were all written in the 1930’s and 40’s but not published in English until 2000. This is a truly wonderful collection, beautifully written, atmospheric stories, breathtakingly observed, some are almost like short novels in themselves, and peopled with memorably complex but very real characters.
Short stories as I have said before are very difficult to review. In this collection Irène Némirovsky offers glimpses of French bourgeois life in the years just before and during World War Two. They concern relationships, family life and the individual’s sense of themselves in the world around them. The first two Stories Dimanche (Sunday) and Les Rivages Heureux (Those Happy Shores) concern women of different generations examining one another, highlighting how women envisage their futures with and pin their hopes on men. Dimanche describes one perfect Sunday in spring, a mother and daughter and their different experiences of love. In These Happy Shores – the middle-aged Ginette meets the young Christiane in a bar, while the latter waits for her lover and Ginette tries to attract the attentions of the kind of men on who she must depend on for money.
“The bar was gradually emptying. It was three o’clock. Eventually only she and Christiane were left. With a weary gesture she brushed away the wisps of hair falling over her eyes and stared at Christiane. ‘Some people have all the luck. She’s got lovely skin, that girl. But she looks so pleased with herself! They’re so stupid, young girls. She’s got a good figure. I looked as good as her once,’ she thought, as she remembered what her body used to be like and how Maurice used to stroke her lovely curved hips. It was hard, having to return to this way of life after a ten year relationship, almost a marriage.”
(Those Happy Shores)
The other stories are all just as exquisite – mainly set in France, for me those stories which depict life in those first years of World War Two – obviously written during these years and just before Irène Némirovsky’s death in 1942 at the hands of the Nazi’s, had added poignancy and resonated strongly. Fraternite (brotherhood) is a fantastically well-crafted story of a meeting between two Jewish men. The first is Christian Rabinovitch a wealthy Jewish man who although completely assimilated to the society in which he moves, he suspects that he can never really belong. The other is a poor man with the same surname; he has spent his life moving between different homes, he has lost one son and seen another leave for England. In his badly dressed namesake Rabinovitch sees everything he wishes to disassociate himself from, ultimately he must recognise, however who he is and where he comes from.
“He did not realise it but, carried away by his thoughts, he was swaying forwards and backwards on the seat in a slow a strange rhythm, in time with the motion of the train; and so it was that, in moments of fatigue or stress, his body found itself repeating the rocking movement which had soothed earlier generations of rabbis bent over the Holy Book, money changers over their gold coins, and tailors over their work-benches.
He looked up and caught sight of himself in the mirror. He sighed and gently put his hand to his forehead. Then it came to him in a flash, ‘That’s what I am suffering from… that’s what’s making me pay with my body and my spirit. Centuries of misery, sickness and oppression…millions of poor, feeble, tired bones have gone towards creating mine.’
(Brotherhood)
This glorious collection of short stories was my first experience of Irène Némirovsky, though it won’t be my last – I am already a firm fan. Irène Némirovsky was a French novelist, born into a Russian family in Kiev – who later fled the Russian Empire at the start of the Russian revolution. Born into a Jewish family, Irène Némirovsky later converted to Catholicism yet under the racial laws of Nazi Germany she was arrested during World War Two and died in Auschwitz in 1942 aged 39. In 1929 Irène Némirovsky had published David Golder which made her famous, during the 1930’s and 1940’s she continued to write, both novels and short stories – many works were considered controversial – and she has even been accused of being anti-Semitic. According to the publishers Afterword in my Persephone edition many of the stories and novels that were published during Irène Némirovsky’s life were not published in English until the 1980’s and 90’s. Then of course came the extraordinary discovery of Suite Francaise in 2004 by her daughter – who had kept the manuscript for fifty years without realising what it was. Now it appears as if her novels are enjoying something of a renaissance - there certainly appear to be quite a number of novels available, and I may have to read them all. These beautiful stories have really whetted my appetite for more.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buena recopilación de relatos que muestran el modo de escribir y la temática de la autora.
Yo casi lo he leído de tirón, pero es de esos libros que viene bien tener para ojear de vez en cuando.
Relatos como "El desconocido", "La Ogresa", "Fraternidad", "Domingo"...son representativos de una autora que este año me está haciendo pasar horas maravillosas.
Muy recomendable.

[Schmacko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my obsessive reading of Irène Némirovsky, I picked up a collection of her short stories, Dimanche (Sunday). These brief writings—mostly from the 30s and early 40s—have just recently been translated from Némirovsky’s French into English. Here, in ten short tales, we get a clear sense of a writer coming into her own style and voice. Although she doesn’t quite tap the emotional depth she did with her unfinished 1942 masterpiece Suite Française, it’s easy to sense her growth and the shaping of her worldview.

(If you want to read about her fascinating and tragically short-lived life, look at one of my other reviews of her books. Or better yet, go read Wikipedia. ;-)

Némirovsky has a gift of observation. She combines a congenial and quietly comic acceptance of human flaws and contradictions with a genuine love of character. To some readers, the author’s perspective may come off as defeatist or resigned; to others it is a knowing voice, fascinated by human nature, unclouded by judgment, accepting of emotional paradox. I’d fall into the latter camp.

Her first two stories, “Dimanche” and “Those Happy Shores” are lovely writings about how women view each other: mothers and daughters, people from different classes, older and younger women. Both stories contain sly comment on how many women of the early 20th century pin their hopes on the affections, wants and emotions of men. Also embedded in both pieces is Némirovsky’s subtle use of comic irony and her delicate way of diving into each woman’s mind as a narrative device.

In Those Happy Shores, Némirovsky describes a middle-aged woman, Ginette, who hangs around a Paris bar hoping for a man to buy her drinks and give her companionship. She notices a rich, old man across the room:

Briefly, she imagined the old man (without any heirs) becoming fond of her, the dresses she would have made, the traveling she could do. In her mind she saw herself relieved of all her worries, made more beautiful by happiness, meeting someone young and handsome with whom she would cheat on the old wheezing man in the far corner, who at that moment gave her an unfriendly glance before obsequiously going up to a pretty girl with platinum blonde hair who was sucking her drink through a straw and looking around condescendingly with the superficial spark of youth.

“Flesh and Blood” is a lovely story about blood relation and in-laws. It follows a mother, three sons, and their spouses. The sneakily judgmental mother falls ill, and the wives take turns nurturing the old lady. At the same time, the middle son plans to leave his wife and wants his brothers’ financial help. Unfortunately, one of the brothers is married to the estranged wife’s sister. It’s emotionally complex stuff that would make a good play.

A couple middle tales don’t quite connect; one is a thin murder mystery and the other concerns a possible spell casting. Both contain wan views of romance that don’t quite live up to Némirovsky’s typical use of subtle human complexity.

However, the end of the book is mostly taken up with three tales about WWII. Here, we see the beginnings of what Némirovsky accomplished in the two novellas of Suite Française, observing her environment and writing insightfully about troubling current events. A couple stories broach the subjects of selfishness and apathy, and another is a capable page-turner ripe with warfare violence and a family mystery.

All in all, it’s a worthy book to pick up and read. It also reaffirms my fascination with Némirovsky.

[Zai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho esta antología de relatos de Irene Nemirovsky, en este libro se han recopilado 15 relatos de la autora que fueron publicados entre 1934 y 1942 de forma independiente, en diferentes revistas.

Son relatos, la mayoría de extensión corta, unas 15 páginas y también la gran mayoría narrados en tercera persona, y uno de ellos, narrado en forma epistolar, las temáticas que tienen son las que suele manejar Nemirovsky, la crítica a la sociedad parisina, la guerra y sus consecuencias y las relaciones familiares.

En estos relatos la autora profundiza en el carácter de sus personajes y deja al descubierto sus debilidades, como solo ella sabe hacerlo.

Todos los relatos me han gustado mucho, me han parecido maravillosos, pero destaco los siguientes porque por gusto personal, me han gustado algo más que los demás: Lazos de sangre, Un hombre honrado, La confidente y La mujer de don Juan.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is it that attracts us to certain authors & others we shy away from? The more I read by Irene Nemirovsky the clearer it becomes why she so attracts me to her stories. If you remember earlier this year I read her unfinished book "Suite Francaise", which I had heard about over at the reading thread. I was extremely interested in this immigrant of France during the Russian Revolution at a young age. She was born 1903 to a wealthy banking family in Kiev but during the Russian Revolution the family fled to France. She died in Auschwitz in 1942. Besides all her history attracting me to her novels, after reading these short stories I was hooked. All these stories have such a depth, gloom & foreboding which shows Irene was wise beyond her years & seeing what she had gone through no wonder. I have not lead a life like hers with so many horrors but her spirit of seeing the gloom & depth into life has been with me since I was a kid so here is why I bond so to her. I do see the happiness in life & appreciate all that I have but I have an Irene Nemirovsky side to my thoughts. It seems like many of these 10 short stories were written around 1938. They were posthumously published fairly recently. In all 10 stories Irene shows us a dark side which depending on your view you can make the ending in your mind happy in a sense.Stories-1) Dimanche- Sunday --- this story is of a mother & daughter, The daughter looking for love & thinking her mother is too old & knowing nothing of love & life. The mother thinking the daughter with beauty & youth but she will learn as she will see as she grows older. This story is the thoughts of daughter, mother & father.“Where do we find happiness? We pursue it, search for it, kill ourselves trying to find it, and all the time it’s just here,” she said to herself. Those Happy Shores---A daughter born with wealth & a woman of the night find their short lived friendship is not to be borne. 3) Flesh & Blood--- A mother is dying & her children are summoned to her sick bed with their wives. It shows all the family hostilities & trials to this supposed to be close knit family held together by the mother.“We’ve all ruined our lives. But in any case, life is ruined just by living it.” They said nothing. Whereas friends or a wife exhaustively insist on talking, there comes a moment in which silence or a sigh or a brief look is enough among brothers and sisters. Each of them thought, “Poor old thing,” and then went back to thinking about themselves; yet through some miracle of kinship, thinking about themselves did not distance them from the others." Brotherhood----A wealthy Jewish man & poor Jewish man talk of their life while waiting for a train. Very interesting the thoughts of safety & doom pre German occupation.5) Don Juan's Wife--- A dying servant's letter to a grown daughter whose mother is accused of murder when she was young.6) The Spell--- A child's understanding via viewing adulterous adults. Seen through a youngsters eyes.7) The Spectator--A visitor to France & his want to witness the change in Europe which his ship home is torpedoed.“It was appalling; it was unfair! The whole lot of them were behaving like chickens that allow their mothers and sisters to have their throats cut while they carry on clucking and pecking at their food. They did not understand that it was this passivity, this silent acquiescence, that would, when the time came, also deliver them up to a strong, merciless hand. Hugo thought suddenly that he had always proclaimed his hatred of violence and how it was one’s duty to be opposed to evil. Hadn’t he said that? Perhaps he had not had time to say it, but one thing was certain: he had always thought it, professed it, believed it! And now here he was in this terrible situation, while others … others, in their turn, would maintain their fastidious scruples, parade their well-meaning neutrality, and enjoy delightful peace of mind.”Mr. Rose--- This reminds me of Cafe Franciase storyline with a little twist. The exodus of Frenchman from Paris before the occupation.) The Confidante---A man loss of his wife & she was not all that she appeared to be.) The Unknown Soldier--- Two brothers discuss the possibility that their father who was supposed to have died in world war 1 is still alive in 1938.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each one of those ten stories was an absolute gem; I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite among them. Nemirovsky's world is so distinctive, with its atmosphere of loneliness, disconnection and bourgeois aloofness. I felt like I was visiting an old friend I had not seen in a while, and I picked up where we had left off, smoothly and effortlessly.

[Ricardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una delicia. Las historias escritas antes del dos de febrero de 1939, fecha de su conversión al catolicismo, son distintas de las escritas después. Antes: del 34 Domingo, Las Orillas Dichosas y Los vapores del vino, del 36 Lazos de sangre, del 37 Fraternidad y del 38 La mujer de Don Juan tienen en común la onnipresente mirada compasiva de la escritora sobre las sombras del ser humano.
En Domingo se refiere a la sombra de la vejez " la felicidad me parecía distinta, más vasta, más terrible; pero los deseos se vuelven maravillosamente pequeños y más accesibles a medida que avanzamos hacia el final de todos los deseos".
En Las Orillas se refiere a la sombra de la altanería "a los 15 años había aprendido al mismo tiempo que el montante de su dote, cómo se mira a una persona a la que no se quiere reconocer"
En los Vapores del vino alude al ofuscamiento "los vapores en lugar de disolverse en el aire parecen espesarse por momentos"
En Lazos de Sangre escribe sobre la inexperiencia "la sensación de poder ilimitado que se produce en la mujer que quiere que la amen...creí que eso podía sustituir al amor".
Fraternidad habla de "uno de esos hombres demasiado lúcidos para creer en la felicidad, que disfrutan con aplicación perversa, profunda de la melancolía, de la nostalgia, de la amargura..."
Y finalmente La mujer de Don Juan nos hace una comparación hoy políticamente incorrecta: "mientras que un hombre perdona una burla, una mujer no lo hará jamás si es una burla de su cuerpo, su cara o su forma de besar o amar"

Por otro lado están los relatos escritos después de su conversión: en 1939 El Espectador, en el 40 El conjuro y Aino, con pseudónimo desde el 41 La Confidente, Un hombre honrado, El desconocido y La Ogresa, y el año de su asesinato el 42 El incendio. Esta vez estos relatos tienen en común la mirada compasiva sobre las sombras del ser humano pero con un matiz:
una chispa de esperanza.
El Espectador nos muestra los pensamientos de uno de mis personajes favoritos de Nemirovsky en este libro : Hugo Grayer. Sus reflexiones no tienen desperdicio: " la diversión es menos frecuente y mejor que la admiración, menos frecuente y mejor que el cariño"..."todos los males que afligen al ser humano tienen su origen en quienes amaban al prójimo más que a si mismos y NECESITABAN que se les reconociera ese amor"..."no había pena más grande que no se curara con una hora de lectura"..."Europa tiene el encanto de los seres que van a morir"..." las emociones que provoca un peligro extremo, la compasión, la solidaridad sobreviven mucho tiempo en el corazón humano"..."qué fuerte parece el cuerpo cuando el que sangra es otro!"..."llevaba unas horas de sufrimiento, tenía la sensación de semanas, largos meses"
El Conjuro aunque dice que "pisotear un alma con gruesos zapatos, eso gusta a la gente" sigue con ..."Dios era quien daba la riqueza y la pobreza, como daba la enfermedad y la salud. Así que ¿para qué preocuparse?".
En Aino aborda la revolución "¿sabe alguien por qué se mata o se deja vivir? Son momentos de frenética y ciega ira. De otro modo, las revoluciones no serían tan terribles".
En La Confidente, marzo de 1941, Nemirovsky ya está claramente señalada y perseguida y empieza a escribir bajo pseudónimo. Escribe su particular pygmalion : "un matrimonio joven guarda tácitamente las confidencias y los recuerdos para la vejez, como pan en la tabla de cortar".
En Un hombre honrado se refiere al hijo que perdona la injusticia de su padre porque "un hijo puede perdornar todo a un padre si éste permanece fiel a la imagen que ha dado de sí mismo"
El Desconocido aborda una despedida de hermanos con el trasfondo de una escena de acción de guerra muy cinematográfica, que no se queda en la acción, es una despedida profunda con mensaje antibélico sútil.
La Ogresa tiene varios pensamientos reseñables "tengo más fe en los tratamientos anímicos que en los físicos"..."el amor libre solo favorece al hombre"..."hijo no te enamores más que de mujeres felices"
Y el último cuento escrito ya en el año de su asesinato: El incendio, habla de un pintor como hizo en Los perros y los lobos "lo que apasiona a la multitud a mi no me interesa: la política, los líos de pareja..."

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dimanche and Other Stories is a a wonderful collection of (1) short stories, written between 1934 - 1942. The author, and her husband died in Auschwitz, but their two you daughter survived, protected by a teacher, friends of the family in various safe houses. Some of her writing was tucked away in a suitcase and saved, and then published many years after her death.

The stories in this collection take place in France before and after the war. Most of the stories centered around family, relationships, social class and religious differences. Most were deeply moving, and left me with a lot to think about while listening and after I had finished listening. A few of my favorites were:

Dimanche
Those Happy Shores
Flesh and Blood
The Spell
Confidante

A few of these stories dealt with the passion of youth, the loss of youth, and loveless, middle-aged marriages. Another story dealt with family relationships, self-centered adult children, and family dissension, much of which was based on misunderstandings.

One story, as seen through the eyes of a young girl, who because of her age, did not understand what was going on in an adult relationship, and was left confused. Another story, which left me saddened was about a husband who never really cherished or understood his wife, until after she was gone.

The characters in each story were expertly drawn, and were all too human; some of the characters I pitied, others I disliked. The setting in many of the stories also left a lasting impression. The audio book reader Cassandra Campbell did a very good job, and her use of a French accent worked out well I thought.

If you enjoy audio books, and stories with some substance, I think you will enjoy this collection.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

masterful short stories mostly set in paris before and in beginning of wwii. an interesting aspect is most of the dialog is interior and in quotes, and what little is "said" out loud to each other is banal, duplicitous, rote. seems all her characters can reason and communicate with THEMSELVES, but loath and disdain others, even their own lovers and family. just wonderful art and stories. just imagine if she had survived the nazis.

[Ericka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautifully written in its simplicity. Nemirovsky weaves the lives of various social classes during pre-war conditions together, illustrating class differences, but simultaneously showing that these differences are irelevent in the course of human living. Highly recommended.

[Sskous · Rating 4 out of 5]

another penetrating set of small studies by Nemirovsky. very fine reading.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing here is so gorgeous I probably ended up reading the entire book twice. Beautiful and terribly sad.

[Josefina Wagner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oldukça vasat bir eserdi.Yazarın okuduğum diğer eserlerini çok beğenmiştim biraz hayal kırıklığı oldu. Öykücülük deyip geçmemek lazım bunu her yazar başaramıyor ne yazık ki.

[Viana · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short stories felt more like character sketches. Some were more interesting than others, but it was possible to see how some of these stories led up to Suite Francaise.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful stories!!!!!! read it madly fast -should have slowed myself doen alas-love the foto on the cover as well

[Sasha]

The stories in the collection display the same depth of character in Suite Française — people caught in the war, people caught in their own lives despite of the war: socialites, politicians, children, farmers, artists. And Némirovsky once again displays how she can be both ruthless and lovely with her characters, her stories.

In the stories “Brotherhood,” “The Spectator” and “Mister Rose,” we’ve got entitled characters, those who feel themselves untouchable by the war. And in the bottom line, really, is how inconsequential we all are in the face of this disaster [at the hands of much powerful men, when ye think about it]. It’s in “Brotherhood,” that I get a taste of that buzz going around about the author’s treatment of her Jewish characters. Here, we’ve got two very different men at a train station, bearing the same name. Ah, the contempt of one Jew over the other — the outrage, the insistence that they are not the same. [Not too subtle there, Miss Némirovsky.]

Many of the stories are studies in contrast — and almost, always, the realization of a similarity that chills the characters, but leaves the reader going, Yes, ma’am, sure, of course. In “Dimanche,” one of the most basic studies: a mother and a daughter. Classic juxtaposition, and constantly so, within the story. Again, quite unsubtle — it’s almost quaint.

Ah, that’s a feeling I’d have a hard time shaking off — it’s disconcerting to think of Némirovsky quaint, for goodness’ sake — so my main beef with this one is the tone: I had to constantly adjust to that which I saw as quaintness for the stories to succeed. And, well, once I did, it worked well enough. I was able to enjoy the stories, although with a different mindset / mood. But that ensured that the experience wouldn’t be as sublime as her Suite Française.

In the story “Mister Rose,” that entitled character, check, looking with disdain over everything around him, because he’s ready for this war, he’s rich, isn’t he? And of course he meets someone at the opposite end of the spectrum. However, there’s a moralistic angle to it all, especially the ending. And I was not too happy with that.

As I mentioned, once I was able to reconcile with this change of tone, I was able to enjoy the stories — for they are ruthless and they are lovely. One of my favorites was “Don Juan’s Wife,” told in the form of letters a former chambermaid sends the then-young daughter of the house. The change in structure served the author well: No more quaintness. Revelations, the retelling of the scandal — but, more so, the secret stories behind the scandal that rocked the family. It was awesome.

Quaintness aside, there is one unforgivable, however. Whereas I found the language in Suite Française “dense and lush. Unafraid of images, of utterance,” the stories here Dimanche fell short of my expectations. The language is not as lyrical. The collection has a different translator, Bridget Patterson, and, as usual with translated works, I don’t know where I can pin this lacking on. I mean, I found the prose occasionally graceless. All in all, it was uneven.

Uneven, uneven. That could have been said better. That could have made me breathless. There was just something missing, some clumsy feel to it all and I don’t know where I can attribute it to.

I guess that’s the thing with the entire collection: I think I like it, but I was a teensy bit disappointed by the feel of most of the stories. The tone. That country charm, despite the author’s ruthless insight into character. Again, that’s forgivable. What I couldn’t get over was the prose. Dayum.

That said, I still want to read as much of her as I can. Sigh.

[Annie 2manybeautifulBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

▪️

A wonderful collection of short stories. I especially enjoyed the first couple focusing on mother-daughter tensions and the cycle of life repetitions; the first forays of love and women’s scrutinisation of each other across the age and social class spectrums.

Relationships. The naivety, disappointment, regret, resignation to one’s fate, the glimmers of hope, the momentary feelings of mother to daughter jealousy, the daughters naive perception that her mother can’t possibly know what is going on, what she is up to, and could never have felt this way herself - for the daughter, mother, grandmother - life cycles on repeat.

Beautiful writing.
Some lovely examples below:

“For we all have several beings of different ages coexisting peacefully within us, from the child we once were to the old person we will become - that bit of her that was already old and wise recognised how her love would survive once she had lost her instinct to defend her wounded pride.”

“At the age of fifteen, when she had found out how much she would be worth, she had learnt how one looked at people one did not want to acknowledge: how to look straight through them as if they were made of glass, with a cold, fixed stare as of one were looking for something just behind them; how to raise one’s eyebrows and allow a small, thin, icy smile to play on one’s lips.”

Perhaps my own naivety and good fortune to be in a long happy marriage are the reason I’m always mildly shocked and saddened by the apparent high level of cheating and infidelity that seems to be tolerated within all these tales; was it just then or is it the same now, mistresses and flings?!

The next 8 stories, set in 1930s/40s are just as observationally astute, but my covid brain is hazy and I’m grateful that I will be reminded of them in the Persephone group discussion at the end of the month.


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[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readying Nemirovsky is like having a bottomless stomach, paired with a bottomless supply of chocolate ice cream from Paris' Berthillon cafe (walk over the pedestrian bridge from the back side of Notre Dame and your first cafe on your right is Berthillon). You never want her books to end. She has just the right combination of smooth richness and sweetness, with a touch of bitterness.

"Dimanche" ("Sunday") is a set of dix (ten) short stories. Some work much better than others. All deal with class, wealth and family life in France. My favorites were "Dimanche" (very typical, to this day, of a Sunday in France), "Le sortilege" ("The Spell") and "Le spectateur" ("The Spectator"). "Le sortilege" really stood out because I would have loved to have lived in the story's household -- a wacky combo of the Russian monarch Romanovs meets "Jersey Shore" reality show, meets the Algonquin Circle. "The Spectator" shows how quickly the tables can turn when a smug, non-plussed wealthy man, who cares more for objects and buildings than people, tries to escape the invasion of France in WWII.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of stories about familial commitments and betrayals.

In the title story, a mother and daughter each mistakenly imagines the naivete of the other. In several stories--especially "Those Happy Shores," "Brotherhood," and "The Unknown Soldier"--characters find uncanny similarities between their own lives and those they might have otherwise considered the enemy. The dawn of World War II is evident in "The Unknown Soldier," "Mr. Rose," and "The Spectator," and is especially interesting in its questions of how life is measured up when the hierarchies of civilization are disrupted (the wealthy bachelors don't come out on top). Secrets kept for a lifetime are revealed in interesting ways in "Don Juan's Wife" and "The Confidante."

The writing is unembellished and staightforward; this style provides an unsentimentalized portrait into the lives documented in these ten stories in a manner that feels both satisfying and true.

[Austen to Zafón · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly savored this book of short stories from before & during WWII in France, which is something for me since i usually tear through books too quickly to truly savor them. But the writing was so careful and beautiful, and the stories so poignant, they refused to be rushed. Némirovsky was born in the Ukraine in 1903, but moved to France, went to the Sorbonne, and wrote prolifically until her death in 1942 in Auschwitz in 1942. And I'm thrilled she did because I look forward to reading anything of hers that I can find in print. I like that she can write convincingly from such a variety of viewpoints: a wealthy man coping with a sudden change of fortune, squabbling siblings attending their mother's imminent death, an aging prostitute realizing her dreams will never be fulfilled, a servant confessing the terrible truth about the family she served. The stories sound depressing, but somehow I didn't find them so.

[Barbm1020 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because it's so French! Having enjoyed French literature as a college student years ago, it was bittersweet to revisit the bittersweet days of 1934 in France, and the touching depictions of women young and older, as they approach their need for love and their view of one another and of the men in their lives. Each seems to think that others are happier. So true to life. Then the war comes. Lives are lost, damaged, families suffer, fragile relationships are destroyed by the desire of each person to survive, and yet in the short story "Mr. Rose" two very different people find redemption as they make the uncharacteristic decision to help one another. Irene Nemirovsky was not French by birth, but Ukrainian, although she lived in France. Her insight into the human heart makes her work's appeal universal.

[Christine Comito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enamored of Nemirovsky. I especially liked the Fraternite/Brotherhood story, about the successful businessman who meets an old Jew with the same last name and the old Jew tells the man they are surely related, from the same poor town in Russia, and he must've come from poor stock because why would a successful person leave? The businessman is skeptical, but is certainly struck by the coincidence.
Other favorites include The Spell, about the girl in the Ukraine, and The Spectator, about the man who drowns in the torpedo-hit ship at the beginning of WW2.
The stories all take place right at the beginning of WW2 and Nemirovsky's character development is amazingly intuitive. Hard to believe she wrote these without knowing the outcome of the war or having the opportunity to revise anything.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irène Némirovsky was a French writer of Ukrainian Jewish origin, born 1903 and died 1942 in Auschwitz. She was well known in France during her lifetime, publishing several novels and many short stories. She is best known now for the unfinished multi-part novel Suite Francaise which was discovered and published in 2004.

The stories in this collection are mostly gentle studies of characters and relationships. Often there is not much in the way of plot and drama, even though death may be involved.

I enjoyed the stories very much but there was a dream-like quality which I thought made them lack emotional charge. Perhaps I was missing something. I would be interested to read Suite Francaise but I'm not going to be rushing out looking for more of her work right away.

[Jane Fudger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irene Nemirovsky's most famous book was Suite Francais but unfortunately she never saw it successfully published as she was deported to Aushwitz where she died in July 1942.
This book however is a collection os ten short stories which are among the first to be published in English. All the stories have a central theme of relationshipsset in European society during the 1930's and 1940's. The author portrays wonderful indsight to people's personality and why they behave in the way they do.We experience their detatchment, loneliness and ill treatment.
The stories are interesting and lightly absorbing but I feel they do not display the depth of her novels "David Golder" and "Suite Francais".

[Lorri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ten stories in Dimanche and Other Stories, by Irene Nemirovsky, are vivid images of life, set primarily in France. From the bourgeois and their social status, to the Holocaust horrors, Nemirovsky’s perspective on individuals coming to grips with their situations is compelling and startling.

Nemirovsky is brilliant at evoking the feelings and thoughts of the varied class statuses, and how they interplay with each other, in the daily norm of life. The bourgeois, in the end, realize how their wealth can not garner them freedom from the terrors of war. Money, in the end, is worthless, and snobbery is diminished by the ebb and flow of events, as they scramble for their lives.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't like short stories, because I like a full book to develop story lines. But I decided to make an exception for Irene, since I loved so many of her other books. The short stories weren't as passionate as Suite Française, the unfinished work giving her a lot of attention these days. However, each short story peers into the human mind to see how it works, which is fascinating. Her characters are always so fleshed out, and this is no exception. I recommend it to everyone, whether you've read her other books or this is your first one. Planning on a re-read to provide a more detailed review of each of the stories.

[V.S. Kemanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this collection in my car on the way to work. Narrator Cassandra Campbell is exceptional and lets the story speak for itself, adding just the hint of an accent or inflection when necessary to let you know who's speaking. Némirovsky writes the kind of story I love, very rich in depth of character, extremely subtle, full of psychological suspense and secrets that creep up to reveal themselves. Amazing that stories written 70 years ago feel so true, the emotions so relevant. "Don Juan's Wife" and "The Confidant" are now among my favorite stories, up there with Katherine Mansfield's "Bliss."

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

20 in 1934 Paris older one was alone loss useless doomed, inheritance led to every possible money loss with your character marriage was disaster, all the daily struggles that unite couples more strongly than love, a man’s life exists when wife takes hold thereof, nothing binds more than natural struggles as in youth, something overpowering about a woman who wants to be loved, what women wants God wants, never mock body face lovemaking, what in heart in mind to actions, go with God, artists live in sublime world, fame a bitter fruit picked after tree fallen, know not how to love.