In the harrowing summer of 1940, as Nazi forces descend upon France, Irène Némirovsky crafts a breathtaking panorama of human survival, desperation, and unexpected connections. "Suite Française" follows the lives of ordinary French citizens during the German invasion, from the chaotic exodus of Parisians fleeing their beloved city to the tense, complex interactions between occupiers and the occupied in a small provincial village. Through her razor-sharp prose, Némirovsky reveals the raw humanity beneath the veneer of social class, showing how ordinary people respond to extraordinary circumstances—some with selfishness, others with surprising compassion.

Tragically, the author herself would become a victim of the very history she was documenting, arrested and murdered in Auschwitz before completing her planned five-part novel, leaving behind a manuscript that would be preserved by her daughters and published decades later as a stunning testament to her literary genius.