Suite Francaise

The Perrins, whose house has been ransacked by the Germans, ask Lucile to plead with Bruno to recover a long list of valuables. Although Madame Perrin, whose son was killed in the war and who wears the black veil of mourning, would never dream of approaching a German herself, she is happy to use Lucile as a go-between, knowing that the latter is already compromised because she has been seen speaking to Bruno.

Lucile tells Bruno of the Perrins’ request, and he agrees, as long as she accompanies him. The Perrin residence is filled with German soldiers, and when Bruno speaks German to them, his voice gives her “the same pleasure that a slightly rough kiss might—the kind of kiss that ends with a little bite” (279).

Bruno entreats Lucile to accompany him on a walk. A little girl in a black smock spies on them, and Némirovsky enters her perspective as she wonders why the lady is scared of the officer who is handsome and nice. She overhears Bruno telling Lucile that he will never forget her. Lucile tells Bruno that a romance between them is impossible. When they return, two German soldiers have gathered the Perrins’ things.

While Madame Angellier notices that Lucile has been dressing and doing her hair differently, because she herself loathes the Germans, she cannot imagine that her daughter-in-law could feel romantically toward Bruno. Moreover, as she does not consider the Germans human, she does not believe that Bruno has the capacity to be in love with Lucile or anyone. When Bruno arrives home with his arm in a sling, Madame Angellier is glad. She spends a good deal of her time in her rooms with the shutters drawn, reliving earlier times when Gaston was young and well. She then imagines her son coming home and presenting herself as the only one who has his true interests at heart. She imagines telling him that together they can control his wayward wife. She recalls how Lucile used to read to Gaston when he was recovering from typhoid. However, when she goes downstairs, it is the German to whom Lucile is reading. She tells the cook, Marthe, to serve her meals in her room from now on. Bruno is pleased by her absence.

The Viscountess de Montmort looks down on the villagers she purports to help by stocking the library with educational books. Knowing that they steal from her because she will not sell them her surplus grain and produce, she thinks that the people are becoming Bolsheviks, and fearing for her position, she is grateful that the Germans are there to keep the working classes down.

At night, when she cannot sleep, she catches Benoît Sabarie in the act of stealing vegetables. He accuses her of rejecting his offer to pay for the produce, because she would rather give charity or see the farmers “starve to death” (296). He says he was stealing for Louise, whose husband is a prisoner of war. He then accuses the Montmorts of collaboration and says that come autumn, the viscount will be hunting with the Germans. The viscountess thinks this is unfair, although privately she prefers the Germans to many of the villagers because they are more disciplined and cultured. She threatens Benoît with calling the Germans and denouncing him; he retorts that he will happily hunt a German himself and departs.

The viscountess complains to her husband about Benoît and suggests that given his threat of killing Germans, he must be hoarding a weapon himself, which is illegal under the current regime. The viscount agrees to denounce Benoît to the Germans.

The Germans request French horses, which leaves the farmers wondering how they will be able to bring in the harvest. Bruno, who is involved in the requisitioning, begins to sort out which horses will be suitable for fieldwork in Germany and which for war.

In contrast to the villagers, Lucile sees nothing wrong in sharing books, music, conversations, and walks in the woods with Bruno, even in the face of the war, “this universal evil” (302). While she does not want her husband to return, she wonders where the relationship with Bruno can go given that they are war enemies and both married. She goes into Bruno’s bedroom, and they talk passionately with the “urgent need to reveal their hearts to each other” (305). It is the surrendering of the soul prior to the body.

Madeleine knocks on the door and asks to speak to Lucile, whom she asks to hide Benoît. The Germans came to arrest him owing to a report of a hidden hunting rifle. While he denied the charge, the rifle was found in the cowshed hay. Benoît said that the gun was not his and quickly took it up and shot Kurt Bonnet and his dog. Benoît then escaped. Bonnet is now laid up on Madeleine’s bed. She thinks that Lucile will be able to get away with hiding Benoît because Bruno is in love with her. Lucile thinks that while the danger for Benoît would be the same everywhere, her own life is of little value. She agrees to hide him in the attic.

The next day the Germans announce that anyone who knows Benoît’s whereabouts should denounce him. Failure to do so will result in on-the-spot execution by firing squad. Now the French who have been collaborating with the Germans realize that they are once again at war. Meanwhile, Madame Angellier feels good about herself for resisting the Germans, even as she sees that Lucile seems ready to fall in love with Bruno. She notes all the evidence of their intimacy, from lipstick-marked cigarettes to the piano music that unites people of different nationalities.

She thinks she hears a man’s voice and smells unfamiliar tobacco fumes. She catches Lucile carrying a plate and a glass and an empty wine bottle and is about to blame her for consorting with the enemy when Lucile challenges her to go upstairs and see who is there. When Madame Angellier discovers that it is Benoît, she insists that he stay in her rooms. While Madame Angellier thinks that Frenchmen do not denounce each other, Lucile knows from what Bruno has told her that from the first day of the occupation enough denouncements were made to arrest the whole town.

The Germans, including Bruno, pretend that a party to be held on the shortest night is to celebrate that occasion and not the anniversary of the occupation. It is to be a lavish affair, with tables set in the castle grounds and the finest linens to be borrowed from French families. The locals cannot help being excited about the prospect of a party, even though they will not be invited. Still Bruno fantasizes about dancing with Lucile.

Later, on a walk, Bruno tells Lucile that his heart breaks at young Bonnet’s demise and at Bubi’s too. He attests that he would kill their killer with his bare hands. On their previous walks, Bruno and Lucile have started to believe that they are in love. On this occasion he tries to take her into his arms, but she protests, both afraid of him suddenly and no longer craving his touch. Loving him now seems “disgraceful madness” (327). He tells her that he will not take her by force and lets her go. Afterward, in her room, although Lucile had thought the night would prove perfect for a romantic encounter, now “she felt bound and gagged—a prisoner—united with this captive land” (328).

The next day, the whole village is swept into a frenzy at the prospect of the party, especially the young girls, who watch the German soldiers on the fine French horses. The French think it will be humiliating if the Germans win the war, but they want an end to the conflict and a return of their prisoners. They overhear the fireworks and singing at the party. However, an old man listening to the radio learns that the regiment is headed for Russia, where Germany is newly at war.

The departing Germans say goodbye to the French politely, and some promise young girls that they will be back.

Before a new regiment arrives, there is the chance to help Benoît escape and get him across the demarcation line. He wants to go to Paris, where he can reunite with friends who share his Communist political sympathies. Lucile is charged with asking Bruno for a petrol coupon and travel pass when she says goodbye to him. She agrees and thinks that Benoît could stay with the Michauds, whom they helped before. Bruno is in his room with two other soldiers, who are busy mailing letters before they go to Russia. She asks them her favor, saying that she needs to drive a farmer to Paris to visit his sick daughter. They grant her the travel pass. She is anxious about saying goodbye to Bruno that night. He kisses her hands and tells her that he will never forget her and even gives her the address of an uncle who is working for the Commandant of Paris and can help her if she needs it. She tells him he is kind and to be careful and feels that her love for him has been less lustful than tender. The villagers watch the Germans go until all that remains of them is a small cloud of dust.