All Our Worldly Goods
IRÈNE NÉMIROVSKY
All Our
Worldly Goods
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY
Sandra Smith
Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Also by Irène Némirovsky
Translator’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781407065366
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Published by Vintage 2009
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First published in France as Les Biens de ce monde by Éditions Albin
Michel 1947
Copyright © Éditions Albin Michel 1947
Translation copyright © Sandra Smith 2008
The Estate of Irène Némirovsky has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
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ALL OUR
WORLDLY GOODS
Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903, the daughter of a Jewish banker. In 1918 her family fled the Russian Revolution for France where she became a bestselling novelist, author of David Golder, Le Bal and other works published in her lifetime and soon after, as well as the recently posthumously published Suite Française and Fire in the Blood. She died in Auschwitz in 1942.
Also by Irène Némirovsky (in English)
Suite Française
David Golder
Le Bal (including Snow in Autumn)
Fire in the Blood
The Courilof Affair
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
Irène Némirovsky’s All Our Worldly Goods first appeared in French as Les Biens de ce monde, in 1947, five years after the author’s murder at Auschwitz. The novel opens just before the outbreak of World War I and ends just after the start of World War II. Like Suite Française, it tells the stories of families whose lives intertwine, and does so with the astute psychological and social observation for which Némirovsky is now known. Unlike Suite Française, the novel is complete, and it is clear that Némirovsky was not writing under the ominous premonition of her impending death. In this work, there is an underlying feeling of hope that makes Suite Française all the more heartrending. In fact, together the two books provide a panoramic view of life in France from 1911 to 1940.
All Our Worldly Goods is about love: forbidden love, married love, unrequited love, the love of parents for their children, of people for their homes, of citizens for their country. The title in French – almost impossible to translate with all its nuances – manages to encapsulate both the spiritual and material aspects of ‘les biens’, the good things of this life, in every sense of the term. We have chosen All Our Worldly Goods because it evokes something of the French in both senses, as well as recalling traditional marriage vows. With the skill and subtlety so characteristic of her writing, Némirovsky offers us entry into the lives of people who belong to another world, one long gone, but whose emotions – desires, fears, suffering, pride, happiness and determination to live fulfilled lives – remain universal.
Translating Irène Némirovsky is always a joy but I also owe a great deal to my editor, Rebecca Carter, whose insights, professionalism, encouragement and friendship have been invaluable.
Sandra Smith
Robinson College
Cambridge, June 2008
1
They were together, so they were happy. Even though the watchful family slipped between them, separating them gently but firmly, the young man and woman knew they were near one another; nothing else mattered. It was the beginning of the century – an autumn evening at the seaside, overlooking the English Channel. Pierre and Agnès, their parents and Pierre’s fiancée had all gathered to watch the last firework display of summer. On the fine sand of the dunes, the inhabitants of Wimereux-Plage formed dark little groups, barely visible in the starlight. The moist sea air drifted around them. A profound sense of tranquillity reigned over them, and over the sea, and over the world.
The families were not very friendly to each other, for they belonged to different social classes: the bourgeoisie didn’t mingle with the lower middle classes. Each kept its place and its distance with modesty, steadfastness and dignity. Each built itself a fortress out of spades and folding chairs. Each scrupulously respected the possessions of its neighbours and defended its own courteously but resolutely, just as a well-tempered sword bends but does not break. The mothers would murmur, ‘Don’t touch that, it doesn’t belong to you … Excuse me, Madame, this is my son’s seat and this one is mine … Watch your toys or someone will take them.’
Heavy storm clouds had been gathering all day, but it hadn’t rained. Agnès thought how wonderful it would be to dip her bare feet in the water. But it wasn’t done to go into the sea, except at midday and amid a crowd of people, thus somehow preserving a young girl’s modesty. She could hear Pierre sighing. He didn’t like the heat.
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