In 1914 when WWI is declared, Bernard Jacquelain is only a young boy of seventeen. He is full of patriotism, and in the naive belief that the war would end in three months he voluntarily joins the war to fight for the honor of France. But three months turn into four years, and when Bernard […]

All Our Worldly Goods is a story of love; love that comes in many forms. It begins with the romance between Pierre and Agnes, who were next door neighbors growing up in the provincial town of Saint-Elme in France. Their love and commitment to each other get tested very early on, as Pierre’s industrious, tyrannical […]

The Dogs and the Wolves is the story of two distantly related Jewish families: the Sinners. They live in a Ukranian city where the poor, ‘unsavory’ Jews lived in the ghetto while the wealthy Jews lived on top of a hill in “the realm of the blessed.” With Ada’s father working as a broker, Ada’s […]

I’m falling behind my Irène Némirovsky year-long project. I’ve been crazy busy these days (more about it later), and I couldn’t read Jezebel which was supposed to be my June read. Hopefully, I’ll have time to read another Némirovsky this month, so I can be back on track with my project! In Jezebel, we see […]

It is said out of all Irène Némirovsky’s novels The Wine of Solitude is the most autobiographical. Dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships are a recurring theme in Némirovsky’s novels I have read, but none of them have examined those relationships up close like The Wine of Solitude. In The Wine of Solitude, Hélène Karol’s mother is a beautiful […]

The Courilof Affair is the fourth book I read as a part of my Irène Némirovsky year-long project. I have mentioned this before – I believe that Irène Némirovsky’s inspiration for her writing came through her life. In The Misunderstanding, the main character is a beautiful adulterer married to a wealthy man, just like Irène’s […]

It turns out Wikipedia had me fooled (but honestly, I should have known better)! 😀 When I came up with the order for my Irène Némirovsky year-long project, I referred the publication years given on Wikipedia for Irène’s books. According to Wikipedia The Misunderstanding by Irène Némirovsky was published in 1930. However, it turns out […]

Le Bal, consisting of two novellas by Irène Némirovsky is the second book in my Irène Némirovsky year-long project. Le Bal proved to be the perfect pick after I read Ruby, as I was in need for some mood-lifting. 😀 Le Bal, the first novella is about Kampf family. Alfred Kampf has recently made a fortune after struggling […]

David Golder is the first book I read as a part of my Irène Némirovsky year-long project. David Golder is Irène’s second novel, but it is the one that first brought her fame and made her mark in the literary world. David Golder is a self-made businessman who made his fortune by speculating in oil fields. He is ruthless and […]