All Our Worldly Goods

All Our Worldly Goods

All Our Worldly Goods reads like a prequel to Suite FranÃ§aise, but is a perfect novel in its own right.

In haunting ways, this compelling novel prefigures Suite FranÃ§aise and some of the themes of NÃ©mirovskyâ€™s great unfinished sequence of novels. All Our Worldly Goods, though, is complete, and exquisitely so â€” a perfect novel in its own right. First published in France in 1947, after the authorâ€™s death, it is a gripping story of family life and star-crossed lovers, set in France between 1910 and 1940.

Pierre and Agnes marry for love against the wishes of his parents and the family patriarch, the tyrannical industrialist Julien Hardelot, provoking a family feud which cascades down the generations. This is Balzac or The Forsyte Saga on a smaller, more intimate scale, the bourgeoisie observed close-up, with NÃ©mirovskyâ€™s characteristically sly humour and clear-eyed compassion. Full of drama and heartbreak, and telling observations of the devastating effects of two wars on a small town and an industrial family, NÃ©mirovsky is at the height of her powers.

Taut, evocative and beautifully paced, the novel points out with heartbreaking detail and clarity how close those two wars were, how history repeated itself, tragically and shockingly. The story opens in the Edwardian era, on a fashionable Normandy beach and ends with a changed world under Nazi occupation.

From the Trade Paperback edition.
Country USA
Brand Chatto & Windus
Manufacturer Chatto & Windus
Binding Hardcover
Format Import
EANs 9780701182137
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	Chatto & Windus
Manufacturer	Chatto & Windus
Binding	Hardcover
Format	Import
EANs	9780701182137
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

All Our Worldly Goods

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