The best I can find to say about this book is that it's short and easily whizzed through. I've enjoyed other Nemirovsky works that I've read, and as this is her first, written when she was only 21, I'm prepared to let her off this dull little book. It concerns a young man who through no fault of his own no longer has a family fortune and is obliged to work. He meets and falls in love with a young married woman of his own class. Their differing expectations of life and his experience of war means their affair is doomed from the outset. This book charts its unhappy progress. I can't really find anything else to say about it. ( )

Descendiente de una familia de la gran burguesía francesa venida a menos durante la Primera Guerra Mundial, Yves Harteloup conoce a Denise, la bella y joven esposa de un antiguo compañero del hospital militar, durante unas vacaciones en Hendaya, en la costa vasca. Será el inicio de una apasionada relación que continuará cuando ambos regresen a París, si bien allí el idilio de verano se dará de bruces con la cruda realidad. Mientras Yves retoma su modesta rutina de oficinista, Denise, ociosa en su mansión, aguarda con impaciencia a que él salga del trabajo. El amor que parecía indestructible comienza a agrietarse. Incapaz de seguir el ritmo de vida de su amada, Yves se hunde en la melancolía, y Denise, atormentada por el muro de hermetismo que se alza ante ella, pergeña un último y desesperado intento por avivar el interés de Yves y conservar así la felicidad que ha conocido junto a él.

The book evokes memories of my travels in Europe. Beach resorts are not my thing but Yves' holiday at the resort reminds me of what I missed so much. Yves toils at his work 11 months of the year for the one-month hard-earned holiday. How many of us are like him? But we can't indulge in that holiday now because of Covid-19. Reading this book brings back so many memories. That aside, this is a good read. Irene Nemirovsky wrote this in her early 20s, and it is amazing that she can have such insights into people at this young age. ( )

Maybe it was reading this right after Mitford's mischievously funny book (Love in a Cold Climate) which meant Némirovsky did not compare favourably. This was Némirovsky's first novel and she did get better but the characters here were highly annoying. Impoverished Yves found it impossible to say no, while the wealthy Denise thoughtlessly expected him to fork out for her every whim. The writing was below par too, with frequent comparisons used instead of descriptions: "like a flower opening, like a tulle dress flowing, and the like, some did not even create the intended image. Disappointing to say the least. ( )

The misunderstanding was, I believe, the fact that the woman didn't realize when she was actually happy in her affair and when she was not. I think it also referred to the man's view of happiness or lack thereof, the longer the affair went on. I think this book was translated well, but it just wan't that great of a story to begin with. ( )