Novel
Le Bal
Irène Némirovsky · 1930
Synopsis
Antoinette Kampf is fourteen. Her parents, recently enriched, are preparing a grand ball that is meant to open the doors of Parisian high society to them. Her mother, Rosine, forbids her to appear at it and goes on treating her as a child. Yet it is she who is entrusted with taking the invitations to the post office, while the house prepares for the great evening.
Context
The story appeared in volume in 1930, the year after its author's first great success; an English source dates its first publication to 1929. Wilhelm Thiele made it into a film as early as 1931, in which Danielle Darrieux played Antoinette. Long forgotten, Némirovsky's work was rediscovered after the publication, in 2004, of an unfinished novel awarded the Prix Renaudot posthumously.
Who it is for
A brief narrative, dry and quick, without a word too many. It can be read in one sitting and suits young readers.
Prizes and reception
The story appeared in English under its French title, Le Bal, in Sandra Smith's translation, published together with another short text.
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The pages consulted to check this page.