Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Wanted to read this for a while - 3 for 20 quid at the airport - hoorah!

Don't think it will be a feast of giant yocks though.

Started reading this at the airport then stopped.

However, it is the next choice of my College Book group so will read as soon as possible and then pass onto another member of the group.

This was the near unanimous choice of my College book group and I am very glad of the opportunity to read this marvellous book.

It is very much a work in progress as Irene Nemirovsky was deported to Auschwitz where she was killed by the Nazis before she could complete the draft of the first two sections of the book.

It is thus hard to judge it as a completed book but what there is is exceptionally well written.

She introduces many characters throughout both the existing sections and the intention was to bring some of the threads of these characters' lives together as the war and occupation of France affected them.

As they stand, the characters are maybe unresolved bur vividly brought to life; I enjoyed reading about the pretentious and selfish author Corte and the unloved country wife Lucile.

I particularly liked the chapter devoted to the night-time mini adventure of the Pericand's cat.

The Germans in the book are also affectionately drawn and seem almost benign (like the "nice" Fascists in Captain Corelli's Mandolin). They are also highly attractive to the village women; there are many descriptions of their beautiful uniforms, their cultural interests and impeccable manners; what a contrast with the disappointingly shiftless Frenchmen in the village.

This is of course highly ironic when you learn of the author's fate at the hands of the German occupying forces.

I was struck again and again how observant she is about specific and relevant details; for example, the French village policeman's enjoyment when involved in a German ceremony. This is especially impressive as the book was written in the depths of war and not with the hindsight modern authors would use.

The book is also surprisingly funny in places, which also pleased me greatly.

This edition also has several appendices which give some background to the book. I was deeply moved by the almost heartbreaking letters from her husband to friends asking for help once Irene disappears, letters sent to her publisher from abroad offering help when she was already dead and particularly the awful story of her children going to the station with placards round their necks to see if their parents were coming back from the camps.

There are also delightful and amusing sections from her diaries; my favourite is her description of the happy bees investigating flowers while she writes sitting on her cardigan in a forest glade.

A wonderful book.

RELEASE NOTES:

Passed to my friend Rachel

Back from my friend now so may pass onto my mum or leave on the book table at the Unconvention.