On July 13, 1942, French gendarmes arrested Irene Nemirovsky in southern Burgundy. She was deported to Auschwitz where she died on August 19. Who was this woman, author of more than a dozen popular novels and more than thirty short stories, whose posthumous novel, Suite Francaise, won France's prestigious Renaudot prize in 2004? Born in Russia to wealthy parents, Irene Nemirovsky immigrated to Paris in 1919. Although she was Jewish, she consorted with authors and politicians on the extreme right, some of whom were openly anti-Semitic. She was sure that these friends would protect her from deportation after the Nazis invaded France. Instead, they abandoned her. Yet she never lost faith in France, even after she was refused French nationality. In this fascinating biography, Jonathan Weiss analyzes the discrepancy between Nemirovsky's real and imagined identities, and explores a literary work that revisits in a unique way Jewish identity, exile, betrayal, and the solidarity of a persecuted people.
On July 13, 1942, French gendarmes arrested Irene Nemirovsky in southern Burgundy. She was deported to Auschwitz where she died on August 19. Who was this woman, author of more than a dozen popular novels and more than thirty short stories, whose posthumous novel, Suite Francaise, won France's prestigious Renaudot prize in 2004? Born in Russia to wealthy parents, Irene Nemirovsky immigrated to Paris in 1919. Although she was Jewish, she consorted with authors and politicians on the extreme right, some of whom were openly anti-Semitic. She was sure that these friends would protect her from deportation after the Nazis invaded France. Instead, they abandoned her. Yet she never lost faith in France, even after she was refused French nationality. In this fascinating biography, Jonathan Weiss analyzes the discrepancy between Nemirovsky's real and imagined identities, and explores a literary work that revisits in a unique way Jewish identity, exile, betrayal, and the solidarity of a persecuted people.
Contents @toc2:Acknowledgments xx Preface xxx[TK] Introduction 1 1. From Kiev to Paris 00 2. The Promised Land 000 3. David Golder 000 4. Profession: Woman of Letters 000 5. The Writer's Craft 000 6. The Temptation of Christianity and the Persistence of Judaism 000 7. Issy-L'Eveque 000 8. "What is this country doing to me?" 000 9. "Irene gone today" 000 Conclusion 000 Notes 000 Bibiography of Irene Nemirovsky's Works 000
Jonathan Weiss is Professor of French Language and Literature at Colby College. In 1996, he met Irène Némirovsky's two daughters. With their help, he was able to consult all the documents that their mother had passed on to them. This biography is the result of that research and of close textual analysis of Némirovsky's literary work.
"In Nemirovsky's search to reconcile national, religious, and cultural identities, Weiss recognizes the struggle of many immigrants in France today. For this reason, more general readers may enjoy this biography as much for the fresh perspectives it bring to questions of national and cultural identity currently under debate in the Francophone world as for the insights it brings to Nemirovsky's life and literature. Scholars will value the complete bibliography of her published and unpublished works, Weiss's attention to the present controversy regarding Nemirovsky's anti-Semitism, and his sensitive and well informed readings of her work, including Suite francaise. This critical volume provides solid evidence that Nemirovsky should be included among the most important writers of twentieth-century French fiction." - Hollie Markland Harder, French Review "Immensely clarifying ... As Weiss's important and prodigiously researched biography makes clear, Nemirovsky was the very definition of a self-hating Jew." - The New Republic "[An] informative work, neatly structured to bring out the dramatic and tragic fate of a woman who, as [Weiss] puts it, 'died without ever having resolved the question of where she belonged.' It is a book well worth reading." - Australian Book Review "This short critical biography by Weiss, an expert on contemporary French literature, is a fine introduction to her work." - Publishers Weekly "[A] brief, but intensely thought-provoking biography by Jonathan Weiss." - The San Francisco Chronicle
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