Suite Française

A WWII story written during WWII, cruelly left unfinished due to WWII, and still a masterpiece.

In part one we travel with several families and characters, as they escape Paris due to the impending arrival of the Germans. In part two we live in a German-occupied French village during the armistice. It's survival and egoism, midnight escapes, worry and heroism, youth wasted and forbidden feelings.

This was a literary joy to read. Némirovsky's writing and her character studies are wonderful. She's gentle even while she sharply picks at everyone's selfish trades. I liked how she slowly strings together what you first think are disconnected characters. Obviously more of this would have happened during parts 3-5.