The Classicics Spin chose #18 from our list this month. This was my book.
I have read two books by Irène Némirovsky before (Suite Française and The Prey) which I both quite liked. So, I was looking forward to this one.
And I was not disappointed. "All Our Wordly Goods" was even better than the two others, probably because she finished it before she was killed.
The story starts in WWI and lasts until 1940. We live through two words, well, at least the beginning of the second one. But we see them as the ordinary people had to live them, not the soldiers. Yes, the men get taken away to fight at the front but their stories are only secondary. We see what the old people, the women and children have to go through.
A fascinating, captivating story. The characters are all very vivid.
From the back cover:
"In haunting ways, this gorgeous novel prefigures Irène Némirovsky’s masterpiece Suite Française.
Set in France between 1910 and 1940 and first published in France in 1947, five years after the author’s death, All Our Worldly Goods is a gripping story of war, family life and star-crossed lovers. Pierre and Agnes marry for love against the wishes of his parents and his grandfather, the tyrannical family patriarch. Their marriage provokes a family feud that cascades down the generations. This brilliant novel is full of drama, heartbreak, and the telling observations that have made Némirovsky’s work so beloved and admired."
Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.
Cool! I have several by this author. I'll see if I can schedule this in next year.
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