Russian
Chapter 5: Exile
In January 1918, the Nemirovsky travel by sleigh to the village of Mustamäki, on the Finnish border, and settle in a log inn with a handful of exiles. Fifteen years later, she records her memories of this episode.
"First, I remember the departure from Petersburg, the first day, at night, the sensation of jolts, in a jostle, the snow, uncertain lights, a smell of abandonment, the cold, me, sitting in the sleigh, and the sensation of the shawl on my mouth, but it is singularly vague."
Fleeing the civil war, the Nemirovsky stayed in Helsingfors, capital of Finland, from April 1918. A year later, they settle temporarily in Stockholm, Sweden.
In 1930, Irène Némirovsky evokes her memories of the Swedish capital, which she will leave for France in June 1919, on board a cargo ship navigating between the floating mines.
North-South, 15 February 1930. Irene Némirovsky seen by Jean Texcier. © Fonds Grasset and Fasquelle / IMEC
