Deb's Reviews > The Fires of Autumn

Acknowledging that this is a translation of a novel written close to seventy-five years ago, I still have to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to. Ratings on this one are very high and I appreciate that the setting is Paris during the years spanning the two world wars, but I found the frequent shift in "lead" character distracting. Bonding with any one character, even the virtuous Therese, was difficult. There is nothing especially enchanting about this Paris. At first bourgeois and constricting, then venal and rapacious, these people seem like the less glamorous version of the Jazz Age. I did think the experience of the First World War soldier was presented well, but the various generations of women on the home front pale by comparison. Nemirovsky clearly meant these women to represent stalwart France, and I suppose they did, but they were not especially sympathetic or even interesting.

But most of all, after patiently wading through the stories of various Bruns, Humberts, Pains, etc., the conclusion of the book was oddly vague and implausible.