The Life Of Irene Nemirovsky, 1909-1942
by Olivier Philipponnat and Patrick Lienhardt

In 2004, Suite Francaise was published posthumously and brought Irene Nemirovsky to the attention of millions of people. Up until this point, nobody had ever heard of her.
Nemirovsky's life before she became a famous novelist was dramatic to say the least.
She was born in Kiev which was known as the "mother of Russian cities" in 1903 and given the names Irma Irina. Her father, Leonid, was a banker and her mother, Anna (there was a mutual hostility between them) were quite wealthy. The family had to leave Russia in 1919 due to the revolution and lived for a while in Finland, then Sweden and eventually settled in Paris. She was writing all this time (all of her fiction is based on her family and friends).
Nemirovsky would marry Michel Epstein and have two children. Her life would be very short. She died one month after being deported to Auschwitz at the age of thirty-nine.
I wish that I could say this is a great book but I cannot. Two French men wrote it and then it was translated. It is very wordy and dense with material. Most of the book comes across as literary criticism not as a biography. The real problem is the editing. Titles of her works are either in italics or not in italics, words are misspelled and are written as two words instead of one.
My suggestion is that if you want to read about her life, read her fiction.
Not recommended.