All our worldly goods by Irène Némirovsky

Reads like prequel to Suite Francaise, but is a perfect novel in its own right - a gripping story of family life, of money and love, set against the backdrop of France in two terrible world wars.In haunting ways this wonderful, compelling novel prefigures Suite Francaise and some of the themes of Nemirovsky's great unfinished sequence of novels. All Our Worldly Goods, though, is complete, and exquisitely so – a perfect novel in its own right. First published in France in 1947, after the author's death, it is a gripping story of family life and starcrossed lovers, of money and greed, set against the backdrop of France from 1911 to 1940 between two terrible wars.Pierre and Agnes marry for love against the wishes of his parents and the family patriarch, the tyrannical industrialist Julien Hardelot, provoking a family feud which cascades down the generations. This is Balzac or The Forsyte Saga on a smaller, more intimate scale, the bourgeoisie observed close-up with Nemirovsky's characteristically sly humour and clear-eyed compassion. Full of drama and heartbreak, telling observation of the devastating effects of two wars on a small town and an industrial family, this is Nemirovsky at the height of her powers. The exodus and flow of refugee humanity through the town in both wars foreshadows Suite Francaise, but differently, because this is Northern France, near the Somme, and the town itself is twice razed. Taut, evocative and beautifully paced, the novel points up with heartbreaking detail and clarity how close were those two wars, how history repeated itself, tragically, shockingly... It opens in the Edwardian era, on a fashionable Normandy beach, and ends with a changed world, under Nazi occupation.

Wonderful writing style, a good view into human emotions and behaviors, very quick read...but this book left me wanting more. It spanned several decades (yes, as told in the book description), but I was disappointed when each chapter found the characters in a new year, a new situation...but without necessarily finishing up what had happened in the previous chapter. Too jumpy.

For being a tale of love between Agnes & Pierre, I found an in-depth look at these two characters lacking. I felt that there was much more focus on their families and the trials & tribulations they were going through, as opposed to what Agnes & Pierre were feeling. Brief glimpses into the main couple's love and emotions were not enough for me, sorry.

Worth the read, but wish it could have been longer/more in depth, or something. Will try reading Suite Francaise at some point, for sure.

This was a moving story about love and courage which repeats down the generations. It was also about tradition and change and how holding on too tight often leads to loss.

All Our Worldly Goods is a wonderfully rich novel of “love between the wars.” It is an easy read driven largely by the plot which follows the Hardelot family through its ups and downs from 1911 to 1940. It is filled with an intriguing cast of characters whom I wished to know better. The prose is beautiful, vivid, and succinct creating appeal across many genres of literature. Although I can only base what Europe was like during the wars through reading, All Our Worldly Goods has rendered the most realistic picture I have seen to date. While Némirovsky spoke of hope, the underlying tone was one of great dread; yet, during the war, life moved on for the civilians, a detail often missing in literature. Némirovsky's words were prophetic, predicting not only the ravages of World War II, but her own death two years later at the death camps. This made the novel all the more real. Touching. And relevant.The novel is underwhelming in two areas: focus and depth. It's never quite clear who or what the focus of the novel is; perhaps it is love, but this is a bit too ethereal to sustain a novel with such an epic-like scope. Once I became invested in one character another was introduced who seemed to become the prime focus and I was never quite sure who to root for; this shifting happened a few times. Similarly, I was never quite sure who the antagonist was; the character creating the greatest obstacles for our protagonist family suddenly changes face and doesn't seem so bad after all. As far as depth, I felt Némirovsky could have really gone deeper into this story. Quite a bit of ground is covered in a limited number of pages. Years and decades are skipped in paragraphs. Character development is often brushed aside in haste. Greater detail and a more specific focus really could have solidified All Our Worldly Goods as a novel of the highest grade.Perhaps Némirovsky felt she didn't have the time left on earth to delve into All Our Worldly Goods more than she did. The fact that she managed write an additional one and a half novels after this—the immensely popular Suite Française and Fire in the Blood—was an impressive feat. And I look forward to reading both of those, and maybe other works of hers.Judging her by this work only, Irène Némirovsky reminds me considerably of [a:Taylor Caldwell 33384 Taylor Caldwell http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235579869p2/33384.jpg]. Although lacking in the scope of Caldwell's works, All Our Worldly Goods contains the same historical based story of adversity with a wonderful cast and a plot-centric story with romantic flavoring. If a reader of Némirovsky would like to try a different time period and a novel likely longer than 600 pages, I'd recommend Caldwell.