Modern fictionA major publishing event; the first paperback publication of a lost masterpiece written in France in 1941, telling the story of a group of characters living under the Nazi occupation. The author died in Auschwitz in 1942, and was awarded the prestigious Prix Renaudot in 2005 - the first time that the prize has been awarded posthumously. 'A book of exceptional literary quality, it has the kind of intimacy found in the diary of Anne Frank' TLS. 'One of those rare books that demands to be read' Helen Dunmore Guardian. An audio edition is also published this month.
General & literary fiction/Classic fictionFollowing the huge success of the lost classic Suite Francaise, which sold over 400,000 copies, there has been a resurgence of interest in Nemirovsky's novels. This is the first English publication of the two novellas, Le Bal and Snow In Autumn, now in one volume. It's part of the continued programme of reissues of Nemirovsky's backlist by Chatto & Windus and Vintage, and follows the hardback publication of Fire In The Blood.
France, 1940. Lucile Angellier's husband has been captured as a prisoner-of-war, and all she can do is wait for him - and tend to the household controlled by her domineering mother-in-law. Their small village is soon occupied by a regiment of German soldiers, forcing the locals to coexist with an invading Nazi force.
The prequel to the bestselling Suite Francaise Paris 1918, Bernard Jacquelain returns from the trenches a changed man.
The city is a whirl of decadence and corruption and he embarks on a life of parties and shady business dealings, as well as an illicit affair.
But as another war threatens, everything around him starts to crumble, and the future for him and for France suddenly looks dangerously uncertain.
Set in a small village, an old man looks back on a chequered life with secret regrets, concealing a truth he will not reveal until the end. This title tells a story about young women forced into marriages with old men, about mothers and daughters, stepmothers and stepdaughters, youthful passions, and the regrets of old age.