David Golder by Irène Némirovsky

Another wonderful book by Irène Némirovsky. Not beautiful like Suite Française but harsh and bleak. It is a portrait of an old, rich, Jewish man who lives for business. He is thoroughly merciless and almost without love, but for his only daughter. The story takes you to a glittering world of jewels and houses by the sea but doesn't leave you envious as this world is so empty and unsatisfying. While the characters aren't likeable, their story is fascinating right up to the conclusion. A very enjoyable look at capitalism and perceptions of Jewishness in the 1920s.

David Golder is available at the Junee and Cootamundra branches of the Riverina Regional Library.

The pianist

This book is the amazing and moving story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who survived the horrifying events of the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi occupation. I read and re-read this book because I found it such an inspiring story of survival, through privations and violence few in western societies today have experienced.
Wladyslaw Szpilman survived ( you will wonder how when you read what he went through) by trusting his instincts and adapting to whatever situation was thrown at him in the unrelenting nightmare of occupied Poland. His family were murdered by the Nazis but he escaped.
It's well written and thus easy to read, but there are some graphic descriptions of violence which some may find disturbing.

Pure Fiction by Julie Highmore

A library related title and cakes on the cover - surely this is a must-read. Pure Fiction is about the members of a book club in Oxford. It is a fast-paced, relationship driven tale about people whose lives are very different but become more and more entwined as they meet each week to discuss books. The characters are realistic, a bit quirky and very modern. A light read, not memorable perhaps, but plenty of fun.

Pure Fiction can be found in the fiction collection at Wagga Wagga City Library.

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

Irène Némirovsky's story is tragic. She planned this book to be like a symphony with five movements but she had only written two when she was taken away and killed at Auschwitz. Knowing this, and the fact that the manuscript only surfaced in the nineties made the book all the more moving. It is set in France just as the Germans arrive to occupy during World War II. Everyone flees Paris for the countryside and we follow many characters from different walks of life. Némirovsky paints vivid pictures of Paris and the beautiful countryside - cool houses, lavish apartments and fragrant gardens. I became very involved with the lives of the characters and while the book is complete in itself, the notes and letters in the appendices make me wish she could have written more.

A number of copies of Suite Française are available across the Riverina Regional Library. Other available books by Irène Némirovsky are David Golder and Fire in the Blood which is an RRL Book Club book.