故事自法國巴黎遭遇德軍投下第一枚炸彈展開序曲，結束於德軍全面進駐法國，時約1942年。而小說家依蕾娜．內米洛夫斯基的一生，也在同年的秋天提前劃下句點，身故於奧斯威辛集中營。戰爭的陰影逐漸籠罩，帶著兩個年幼女兒避難的依蕾娜．內米洛夫斯基仍舊持續寫作，以幾近白描的方式，冷靜寫下眼前正在發生的一切──一幅巴黎市民逃難潮的浮世繪卷軸：上流社會的貝黎剛家族一家人；自視甚高的作家加布列；小職員米修夫妻以及他們從軍的兒子尚－馬黎；銀行老闆阿赫萊特跟他的情人珊瑚，還有視美的東西如命的收藏家查爾斯，戰爭將不相關的他們兜在一起，有人順利躲過戰火，有人卻葬身在重新返回巴黎的時候…… 相遇在法國小鎮的德國軍官、法國少婦，分屬占領的跟被占領的一方，之間無法告白、不能有吻；一開始就注定，這是無法完成、永遠也完成不了的愛情。

★本書中文版由「聯經」出版。

Beginning in Paris on the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1940. Suite Française tells the remarkable story of men and women thrown together in circumstances beyond their control. As Parisians flee the city, human folly surfaces in every imaginable way: a wealthy mother searches for sweets in a town without food; a couple is terrified at the thought of losing their jobs, even as their world begins to fall apart. Moving on to a provincial village now occupied by German soldiers, the locals must learn to coexist with the enemy—in their town, their homes, even in their hearts.
When Irène Némirovsky began working on Suite Française, she was already a highly successful writer living in Paris. But she was also a Jew, and in 1942 she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she died. For sixty-four years, this novel remained hidden and unknown.