Suite Française

We so often hear or read about the occupation of Paris and the French Resistance, but it was fascinating to get a glimpse of the life in the countryside with occupation. Really opens your eyes to the thoughts of both sides.

An interesting take on the early days of the German occupation of France in WWII. Largely as seen through the eyes of the French middle class (wealthy, to us), there is barely a sympathetic character in the entire book. I wanted nearly all of the main characters in this book to come to more miserable circumstances than most of them did. There were a few people, usually of the working class, who I was drawn to and their stories were more palatable. This is a vignette of about a year in the lives of these people...there is really no beginning or end, but a snapshot of a period in time. My wife read the book and says that the best part of it, which was fairly substantial, is the author's notes at the end. Impossible to judge from the audiobook, as these notes are not included on the disks.

If you're looking for fast-paced thriller, this is not the book for you. However, if you want to read about people's lives during time of war and occupation that is well written and beautyfully described, and if you want to be taken back to times long gone, you should read this book.

I just kept listening wondering where the story was going to go. The first half wasn't too bad, but the story keeps switching around to tell just bits about different families' lives without tying anything together or even concluding. The second half was even more boring, though at least in the second half, a few main characters stand out and you learn a little about their lives. However, about 3/4 of the way through it, I decided to just send it back because I realized that I didn't even care how the book ended.

The first half of this book was OK and kept my interest but when it switched to the second section, Dolce, I just got bored. Maybe it was the switch of narrators or maybe it was because I didn't like the end of the first section and didn't want to listen to the end of the second only to be disappointed again. Whatever the case, I sent it back without finishing it.

Mesmerizing-------------beautifully written. I did not want it to end.